Disclaimor: I don't own Dragon Age Origins. Nor do I won the Dragon Age 2 (since the idea is actually coming from that).

A/N: The idea for this actually came from information released about Dragon Age 2. Those that read the information, regarding a certain Mage, will probably get where I'm coming from with this. Those that haven't, I have no intention of revealing, so you're safe.

Warning, this story contains something of a romantic scene. It's not an actual love scene, so I think I should be fine with a 'T-rating'. After reading it, if someone thinks otherwise, please tell me otherwise.

The Power of Love

For the hundredth time since my group arrived at Redcliffe, I kicked myself for not coming here sooner. We originally came here to find the Arl of Redcliffe, Eamon Guerrin. Stupidly, I kept putting it off. I figured if we used a few of the contracts, to recruit a few of the armies behind us, Arl Eamon would actually take us more serious. Without the armies we were just two Grey Wardens, turned criminals, asking a noble to help us deal with the current Regent.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at Redcliffe, we found it under attack by the walking dead no less. After fighting the fiends off, all night, Teagan Guerrin, the Arl's younger brother, decided it was the right time to sneak into the castle. While Teagan walked in with the Arl's wife, who seemed to wait for just the right moment to show herself, part of my team snuck in through a hidden passage. The remainder of my team stayed with the Knights of Redcliffe and waited until the Castle gates were opened. I opened the gate, our reinforcements charged into the courtyard, and we quickly took out the remaining undead in the castle.

Looking around, I kicked myself again for not coming here sooner. Sure, the problems at the Tower of Magi weren't really something we could have put off, but we could have come back here instead of going to the Dwarves…Maker knows nothing was happening there. While Zevran, Leliana, Liam, and myself were sneaking around the Castle, looking for the main gate, my mind was going a mile a minute.

Ser Perth, the highest-ranking member of the Knights of Redcliffe, came up to me, "We've taken the Courtyard, but we'll need to take the Main Hall if we're to hold the Castle. Shall we go there together?" he asked me. If my hunch was right, the demon would probably be in the Main Hall.

All eyes turned on me, all of them waiting for my orders. I had already decided on what to do, "No, I'm taking a small group into deal with this alone." I casted a quick glance around my group, "Alistair and Sten, you're with me."

"WOOF!"

I smiled down at my faithful Mabari hound, Liam, "Yea, you to boy."

"Warden, I disagree with this course of action." I nearly sighed when Wynne went into her heavy lecture mode. Why couldn't people just listen to me without questioning every damn order? "I don't think you've come to realize yet, but I believe we are facing a demon here."

"Tis true, only a demon, or a very strong Mage, could raise and control all these dead. T'would be better if you were to bring more-" Morrigan took a moment to glance at Alistair, "-competent help."

"I agree Warden", Ser Perth started, "Safety in numbers."

A quick glance around and I knew that almost everyone agreed with that assessment. Though I'm guessing more than a few just didn't want to be left behind again. Sadly, they would be disappointed. I glanced at both Wynne and Morrigan, since the two of them knew more about what was happening than anyone else, "Ask Leliana and Zevran can attest to, I've already guessed that a demon was behind this. Unlike the two of you though, I know what kind of demon we're dealing with. There's a reason I made my choice, so I'm going to have to ask all of you to trust me in this."

Most seemed to relent, but of course Wynne was ready to keep pushing, "Warden, Tristan's teachings-"

I glared right at her, "You trusted me with the lives at the tower…so trust me here!" That shut her up. Though she was obviously not very happy, she gave me a nod of acceptance. I took a long look at the Castle in front of me. "Ser Perth?"

The man came to stand next to me. "Yes Warden?"

"The main hall, does it have a window?"

The knight nodded before pointing, "Yes ser, that one."

He gathered everyones attention, "If that window breaks, take that as a sign to charge into the main hall." With that said, I started walking up the stairs to the Keep doors. Remembering something I quickly turned back to look at the others, "Oh, and I'm expecting another man to walk through the door we came from" I began, gesturing towards the corner of the courtyard. "He'll be about my height with brown hair. If you see him, don't let him enter the Castle either…but don't hurt him either." I got a few nods at that. With that last order, I turned to walk into the Castle; Sten, Alistair, and Liam at my back.

-xXx-

After hearing what Wynne, aka Team Mom, had said I knew it was only a matter of time before Alistair asked the inevitable question. "So who's Tristan?"

I suppressed the urge to groan. Not that I had a problem talking about this, but I just knew Alistair would have issues with my former Master. "The short answer, Tristan was my master for about six months, when I was nine. He studied demons."

Alistair's eyes widened, "What! But that's illegal."

I shook my head, "Learning to Summon demons or using Blood Magic to control them was illegal. He studied them to learn how to kill them. Hmm, he also wanted to learn how to free a Mage from a demon's control." I stopped moving as a thought occurred to me, my three companions following suit. "Makes me wonder why I was assigned to study under him. Demonology may not have been illegal, but it was considered Taboo. Most Mages steered clear of it for fear of being presumed Demon Summoners."

"Why were you only with your Master for so short a time?" Sten asked.

I shrugged at him, "They discovered he was a practitioner of Blood Magic."

Once again, that got the expected response from Alistair. I quieted him down and we continued moving towards the Main Hall. "Point is, I learned a few things about Demons from him, and I intend to use it to save the kid. If that's possible."

Alistair's eyes widened, "The kid, Connor? You think he's possessed? Wait, Connor's a Mage?"

"Yes, to all three."

"I disagree, the demon should be killed. The cancer must be cut out."

Before Alistair could jump in, I turned to Sten, "We need the boy's father. We'll be in a better position if we can help the kid."

Sten fixed me with a hard stare, "And if we can't?"

I knew the answer immediately, but it actually took me a few moments to answer. "Then I'll be the one to kill him."

I could see Alistair go pale at the thought. The Qunari nodded, "Very well, Kadan."

Alistair sighed and seemed to be over whatever nausea my comment caused, "So there has to be a reason it's only the four of us. I presume you have a plan?"

I nodded, "Isolde had a soldier with her. It's a safe to say there might be more of them with the kid. If they attack, defend yourselves. Aside from that, just be yourselves." In truth I had preferred to go alone, but I wasn't arrogant enough to believe I could take out a squad of soldiers single-handedly. I'd have to trust in Sten and Alistair for this.

As we came to the doorway of the Main hall, I thought back to Tristan's lessons. The first was for the demon to force their way into a Mage's body. In this method the demon would gain the same strength they had in the Fade, but the human's body would become twisted and would turn into what we called abominations. In this method, the vessel became nothing more than a walking corpse, having died during the mental battle with the demon.

The second method was for the demon to make a deal with the Mage. The demon would take control of the Mage's body, be able to hide in an actual human looking body. In this form they would benefit, not only by the ability to blend in, but also by the ability to feed on the vessel's magical prowess and emotions. They had the potential to become. I believed the demon was using the latter method to control Connor. I hoped so anyway.

Another thing I learned from Tristan was that demons fed off, and gain power from, certain emotions. It was the Key to there strength, but it could also be their greatest weakness.

Walking into the Great Hall, we came to a stop in front of Teagan, who was surprisingly nimble, Isolde, some soldiers, and a boy, who I assumed was Conner. Glancing to the side, I could see the window Perth had referred to. It was high, much to high for even Sten's impressive height. If we needed back up, I'd need to hit it with a spell. The boy looked at us and gestured for Teagan to stopped his acrobatics. "So these are our visitors. The ones you told me about."

Isolde was looking down the entire time, "Y-yes Connor." My hunch was right. Connor was possessed.

He looked straight at me, "And this is the one who defeated my soldiers, the ones I sent to reclaim my village?"

Isolde nodded, "Yes"

"And now it's staring at me! What is it mother, I can't see it well enough?"

While the Isolde started talking, I began going over anything else I could use against demons. Unfortunately, if I wanted the boy to live, my list was rather limited.

"Grey Warden…please don't hurt my son! He's not responsible for what he does!" Isolde begged. The woman's plea actually brought forth a sense of nostalgia as I thought about my mother. So long ago…I quickly glanced around the room and knew that the soldiers, and Teagan had to go. Either they needed to be unconscious or dead. Glancing back at Isolde, I knew the woman might be my greatest asset here, despite the fact that the majority of what happened was clearly her fault. I just needed to make sure she was in the right mind set.

"So he is the evil force you spoke of."

"No, don't say that! Connor didn't mean to do this! It was that mage, the one who poisoned Eamon – he started all this! He summoned this demon! Connor was just trying to help his father!" Connor was trying to help Arl Eamon? So that was the deal the kid made. That could actually work in our favor.

As Connor continued talking I mentally went over my plan. After a few moments Connor announced that I would have the audience I seek and asked me why I came to see the Arl of Redcliffe. I just grinned at the kid, "Me? No reason. I think I'll just leave."

"My, my. How rude! What shall I do mother—What!" Connor exclaimed when he realized I had just trapped him in a Forcefield.

Running forward, I yelled, "Take out the soldiers!" I ran at Teagan, just as the man stood and reached for his weapon. I cocked my fist back and threw it at the Bann, simultaneously casting Rock Armor. The effect was Teagan falling over, with a bruise on his face that wouldn't be going away any time soon. My tactic was crude, but I couldn't do much, since I never bothered learning the Sleep spell. I turned to see Sten cut down one of the soldiers and move to another. Alistair was busy dueling his own opponent, and Liam had overwhelmed one of them and was in the process of finishing the poor man off. Within moments, the battle was over. And just in time for my Forcefield to wear off.

"How dare you!"

"You're a Desire Demon." I smirked at the shocked look on his face, "You aren't getting any power from that kid, are you?"

Isolde, who had hid in the corner the moment the fighting had started, stood up to and looked at the two of us.

"You haven't even bothered using any magic, so it's obvious that your not getting anything from the kid except an anchor on this side of the Veil." The look on Connor's face actually made me grin. "Makes sense really. What is that kid, nine or ten years old? He probably doesn't even understand the concept of desire. And his contract, was to help his father, his desire to help his father was for love something you clearly have no affinity over." Which is clearly why he decided to enslave others to do his dirty work for him. He controlled them through their desires. Since I was a Mage, he wouldn't be able to control me nearly as easily as he did the others. That just left the other four to worry about. "Connor…she's weak."

Connor snarled at me, "I am not-"

I hit it with a Mind Blast to shut it up and continued talking. "She got nothing from your contract and she's getting nothing from you. She has no thralls to feed off of, you gotta fight her. For both your mother and your father."

Isolde seemed to grow a spine at this and ran over to Connor, holding onto the front of his clothes. "Baby, fight this thing, please!"

Connor's body looked up, towards Isolde, "You don't hate me for being a Mage?" was the question that came from the boy's mouth. Isolde actually looked at him in horror and I mentally sighed, remembering Jowan's words. The words that Isolde was a pious woman, didn't immediately translate to I hate mages, in my head. And if what Alistair's statement was to go by, she was probably very vocal of that little fact. Unfortunately, the demon seemed to shake off my spell at this time. It quickly wrapped his tiny hands around the woman's neck, "Enough! I'll use you!" I quickly raised my hand to stop Alistair and Sten from moving to attack. A few moments went by and nothing happened. I hit the, currently, dominant mind with another Mind Blast, knocking the boy to his feet. I'd have to talk quickly.

"If you could have taken her, you would have done it already." Glancing at the woman, I thought about how best to phrase my next sentence. "How could you hope to control her? Sure, she's a total bitch-" Isolde looked like she had just been slapped in the face at that comment. "-but she's clearly filled with nothing but worry over her son. That's something you will never know-" a hint of nostalgia hit me. "-the kind of unconditional love a parent could have for their child. She may hate mages, she could never hate her child." My parents were the same way. I was only seven when I last saw them, but I can clearly remember how poorly they talked about my kind. Even then, when I showed signs, they tried to fight the Templars off to keep them from taking me. My final memory of my mother was her, restrained by a Templar, screaming for them not to take me.

"Mother…"

Isolde's eyes widened and she ran over to Connor, grabbing onto him, "Connor."

"Get away from me, fool woman!" the demon pushed the woman away, and got to his feet. As I prepared to hit it again, the demon looked pass me. "I'll take you!"

Looking back, I could see Sten flinch for a moment. I looked back at the demon, not even worried. Sten was quick to shake it off and stand up straight, though his hand did wrap around Asala. "Duty is the only thing that fills that one. You won't get any desire out of him." Morrigan, much to my displeasure and annoyance, had tried that. She was refused, in a rather comical manner. The only thing that Sten desired was his lost sword, which he was now holding. I smirked at the demon's shocked expression. "You could try the blonde, but he's about as innocent as the kid your possessing."

"Hey!"

Ignoring Alistair, I continued my taunt. I gestured towards, Liam, whom was at my feet. "You could try the dog, I'm sure he's currently desiring a pork bone." I hit the demon with another Mind Blast. I knew I had to keep it unbalanced, or it might get enough mental ability to forcibly materialize it's body on this side of Veil. Not only would be forced to fight a likely powerful opponent, but it would have the unfortunate side effect of killing Connor.

"Connor, you have to fight it, please! I love you Connor, fight it!" Isolde continued. I guess she figured me using Mind Blasts was the best chance to get through to her son.

"Mother?", the boy said weakly.

"Fight it Connor!" Isolde screamed.

"I…can't-Enough!" the demon looked at Alistair and tried to take him as well. This time I actually was worried. Despite Alistair's Templar training, he had been fooled by a demon before. Though that Demon was obviously much stronger than this one we're facing now. Luckily, he seemed to shake off the demon as well. I hit it with another Mind Blast, and Isolde once again started talking to Connor. This was it. It had to know I was quickly running out of options. It would either have to take over Connor completely, or try to find a new host. The only question was what it would do? In a few moments, I had my answer. "You're strong, and you're full of desire", it grinned at me.

Hearing Alistair call my name, I once again gestured them both back. A moment later my body slumped to the floor. My mind was in the Fade.

-xXx-

I opened my eyes and quickly jumped to my feet, just barely avoiding a lightning strike that might have ended the fight before it even began. I smiled at the Desire Demon that stood in front of me. It took the bait. Now it was only a matter of fending it off. I paused a moment to look at the thing in front of me. It looked…weak. It's hair, and by that I meant the fire that made up it's hair, had gone out. It seemed barely able to stand. Perfect, I thought with a smirk. I quickly activated my Rock Armor and reinforced myself with an Arcane Shield.

It was weakened, and though I knew I couldn't make it any weaker, I knew my thoughts could possibly strengthen it. I thought back to my mother, to my father, to Tristan. It's power came from Lust, so I just needed to reinforce my thoughts with those that I Loved. It shot another Lightning Bolt at me, though that was deflected thanks to my Shield. I quickly activated Spell Might. I'd finish the damn thing off with one Crushing Prison. I continued thinking about my loved ones. I thought about Morrigan…

And then the demon exploded. Wait…it exploded? "What the?" I asked, no one in particular. I stood ready, prepared to cast myself, as the smoke from the explosion began to fade away. But it wasn't a Desire Demon that stood in front of me. It was…or looked, clearly feminine. Her skin was pale yet, unlike that of the Desire Demon, resembled that of a human. Her hair was looked human as well. It was blonde. She stood up and began looking at herself. She was also naked…

Blushing, I quickly replaced the thoughts and shielded my mind. My shield and armor was up, my spells were stronger, and I was seconds away from crushing this thing like a bug. Yet…

I don't know what possessed me to ask, but I just had to know, "What are you?"

The Desire Demon, turned woman, stopped examining herself to look at me for the first time. Purple eyes, stared back at my Green ones. Then, in a voice similar to that of Spirits and Demons, she answered me.

"I am Love."

-xXx-

I woke up to see Liam, Alistair, and Sten all gazing back at me. I suppressed a chuckle when Liam started licking my face, "Enough, Liam!" When he finally let me, I managed to stand back up. Alistair's hand was at his sword, glaring at me.

"You're…not a demon."

I glared right back at him, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

He braced himself, "You're different. Something's inside you."

Sighing, I shrugged, "Yea. I'll have to talk to Wynne and Morrigan about it after I have some time to think."

"Well tell me now!" Alistair all but commanded. Looks like he finally decided to grow a backbone.

"Short version…I have a Spirit of Love inside of me."

Alistair and Sten both shared a glance before looking at me. "Tell us the long version."

The thing changed into…something else while I was fighting it. I looked around for Isolde and Connor, but found only Teagan who was beginning to get back up. "The mother took the child Kadan. When that thing left, she didn't want to risk it jumping back into the boy."

I nodded, "Probably for the best."

"Umm…not to complain or anything, but could we get back to the Spirit of Love that's correctly inside you!" Alistair said. Couldn't blame him.

"Best I can say is feel it out Alistair. Use your Templar training. Do I feel like an abomination to you?"

Alistair looked long and hard at me before answering, "You don't feel…demon-y."

"Good…like I said, I'll talk with Wynne and Morrigan later." I was tired…and my talk with the Spirit of Love hadn't help.

"One question Kadan." Sten began and I nodded to him. "Even if it is now, as you say, a Spirit, why are you letting it stay? Why not evict it from you mind."

"Oh, good question, why?"

Glancing between Sten and Alistair I just shrugged, knowing they wouldn't like the answer. "Short version: she started to cry when I asked her to leave."

They both glanced at me before once again, glancing between themselves. Alistair was the first to speak, "Can you give us the long version?"

Seeing that Teagan had finally gotten up, though was obviously still woozy, I moved pass the two. "Not now." I needed to clear my mind, think about what I was going to do about the Spirit of Love, but first I'd need to deal with what's happened here. "Sten, please call the others."

Hearing a grunt behind me, I heard the giant move out. Alistair and Liam came up behind me. I tried not to look at the horrible bruise on the side of Teagan's face, before asking if he was alright.

"Better…I'm myself again." He shook his head. "Where's Isolde?"

Opening my mouth to answer, I stopped when I heard a crash, and the sound of glass shattering. The four of us turned to see Sten standing under the window…or what was left of it. Alistair voiced all of our thoughts, "What are you doing?"

Sten shrugged, "The window breaking was to be the sign for the others to enter the Castle."

Sighing, I quickly looked around the room we were in. That window was way to high up for Sten to break without throwing something at it. I just hoped he hadn't thrown one of the dead soldiers through it.

-xXx-

"He has a Spirit inside of him."

The moment those words left Alistair's lips, I had six pairs of eyes me. A moment later, I glared at the would-be Templar. "Alistair!"

The only other Grey Warden just put his arms out defensively, "You said, you'd tell them."

"After I had thought about it!"

Alistair shrugged, "You've had a couple hours."

"During which I was busy talking with Teagan and Perth! I didn't have time to do any thinking, on the matter." I wanted to smack Alistair at that moment.

"Well, I started to get worried when you demanded money from Teagan."

"Demanded? I didn't demand anything from Teagan. I just told him that we needed money and asked him to spare us some. Not like they're endanger of going hungry! Isolde should have readily offered us supplies anyway!"

Alistair sighed, "Probably didn't because you called her a bitch…"

Team Mom, aka Wynne, decided to finally interrupt us, "What is this of Spirits? Didn't you destroy the demon?"

Sighing, I told them the story of what happened. By the end of it, I had several different reactions.

"You play with dangerous things, I hope you know what you are getting into." Morrigan was obviously unhappy by the arrangement. Though whether because I made a deal with a spirit or because I made a deal with a spirit of love, I didn't know.

"Puh…magic." Ohgren muttered before turning and walking off.

"You are perhaps the first man, to have a woman inside of him." Zevran said with a grin. That would be the reason I didn't bring him with me. If the demon fed off of Zevran's desire, she'd probably have enough strength to crush the castle.

"Why spirits would choose to inhabit soft squishy things is beyond me." I actually agreed with Shale's comment. Though I personally didn't think Shale could be possessed, I really didn't want to take the chances of a demon possessed Golem. The very thought made me ill.

"Oh, how romantic! To think that you are enchanted with a Spirit of Love. You will truly defeat the Arch Demon with the Power of Love!" Leliana said with a dazed expression. Looking pass Leliana, I saw Morrigan making a gagging noises. Didn't help that I was also hearing Alistair chuckle from behind me.

Wynne, waited until I was alone to speak with me. She was surprisingly open-minded about the whole thing…but had one word of caution. "Are you sure that what you are dealing with is in fact, a spirit? Demons have been known to be deceptive."

I nodded my head. "Alistair agrees that whatever is inside of me, isn't a Demon." Wynne nodded, before telling me to continue meditating. She said she'd be keeping a closer eye on me…probably not the best thing for what I had planned tonight. Walking over to Morrigan's private campsite, which was always set up a few meters away from the main one, I saw down next to the fire. Shutting my eyes, I thought about what occurred thoughtout the days.

Not ten minutes later, I felt a weight lean in on me from behind, and a pair of lips slowly trace up and down my neck and jaw-line. We always began our little sessions in the same manner, so I decided to enjoy the feeling and wait for her to say her line. I didn't have to wait long.

"'Tis so cold in my tent, all alone."

I smiled at her line, or maybe at the feeling of her lips, I wasn't quite sure. "Then get a thicker blanket."

She started to rub my shoulders. How she got so good at that was beyond me, considering she spent the majority of her life with no one but Flemeth. Oh maker, I quickly shook my head at that. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts! "I was thinking of something much warmer than a blanket."

It took me a moment until I was able to continue our little game, "Well, why didn't you say so…" Her hands went under the collar of my circle robes and she started raking her nails on my chest. I felt my desire build up. My eyes widened.

I jumped to my feet and away from Morrigan, scaring her at the same moment. "What's wrong?" she asked, probably assuming I sensed darkspawn, or something.

I looked at her, with shock and shame in my eyes. I was panting, as sweat ran down my face. "I don't think I can do this…"

"What?"

I answered, "I don't think I can do this with you tonight."

She smiled and stood, walking towards me with the grace of a cat. "And why not, you've done an admirable job at in the past."

Once again, I jumped away from her. "No! I'm saying…" I don't know what I was saying. "I don't think I can do this."

"Yes, you've said that several times. You have yet to give me an adequate reason."

It took me a few moments to calm down enough so I could form real thoughts. A few moments later to figure out what I would say. "The Spirit of Love within me, I'm not sure our time together won't turn her back into a Desire Demon."

She narrowed her eyes at me and threw her arms up, "Oh for the love of…"

"Yea."

"This is ridiculous."

"Yea, but…" an idea formed in my head. I smiled up at Morrigan, thinking I found the answer to our problem. Pure desire was a bad thing…but what if what we were doing was an act of Love. "Morrigan, I love you."

"What?" she looked confused.

"I love you." I said, walking closer to her. "I've loved you for a long time now." There was something to be said about a woman who could freeze half a dozen darkspawn and look absolutely gorgeous while doing so. Morrigan was…she was…

"And now, you've gone and spoiled the mood", she said as she pushed me away.

"What, b-b-ut." What just happened?

"You may leave now." She waved me off and got in her tent.

I just stood there, looking at her for several more moments before asking the only question I managed to articulate. "What?"

Through her tent, I heard my love speak, "The moment is gone, our little dance of desire will not happen tonight. You've ruined it. Go away."

Once again, I stood there for several moments, just staring at her tent. After a few minutes, I hoped it was only a few minutes but I kinda lost all perception of time, I turned and began walking to the main camp and my own tent. During my walk, which I found to be exceedingly long, I could feel eight pairs of eyes on me. Maker, why weren't any of them asleep? Only Zevran and Shale were supposed to be on watch at this time.

I sat down in front of my tent, still feeling a few pairs of eyes on me. Feeling a hand on me, I looked up to see Zevran smiling at me. "Fear not my friend. We all lose the battle of the sexes sometimes." He patted me on the shoulder and walked back to his position. Good thing he did to, I wanted to throw fire at him.

Laying back I thought about the Spirit of Love. We were supposed to speak again when I entered the Fade. All I could think was…the damn thing better be worth it.

A/N: Hope it came out alright. The idea has been in my head for a while. I actually doubt I'll continue it, sad to say that.

Please let me know what you think. Review. Wait…let me turn on my Blood Magic. REVIEW!