Author's note: Dragon Age and its wonderful characters are all BioWare's. Thank you to the BW writers for giving us this playground. I should probably apologize to you for all my crimes of fanfiction. A heartfelt thank you as well to all who have read, reviewed, and/or sent nice messages on BSN, and to my ever-patient fanfic therapists who have previewed some of these stories. You make the effort and degradation worth it. Oh, and I have taken a few liberties with game events in this one. Flemeth made me do it! -A.

The fires were still burning, burning. They made an eerie reflection in the pools and rivulets of blood that had turned the streets to rust-colored mud. Idun had to brace with her mage staff to keep from slipping in it. Slowly she made her way back down the slope of Fort Drakon, wondering where all the soldiers were. There were also no corpses. There had been bodies on the way up, lots of them. And where were Alistair and the others? Perhaps they had already made it back to safety, to the army camps outside the ruined city. She would have to make her way back alone.

Idun turned a corner and emerged from the heaps of ruined, smoking buildings onto a featureless plain. It stretched as far as eye could see, with one narrow track that led from the city out across to the horizon. A lone figure stood leaning against a charred tree some distance down the path. As Idun got closer, she recognized her.

"Morrigan."

The dark-haired woman turned, looking unsurprised. "Warden. I had hoped you would pass this way."

Idun stopped in front of her and looked around, brow knit in confusion. Finally, recognition came. "We are in the Fade." Morrigan nodded to confirm this, and the Dalish elf's confusion turned to real worry. "What are we doing here? Where are we? In the physical world, I mean."

"I am somewhere safe enough and well away from the rest of you. You…" Morrigan stopped to look at her appraisingly. "I am not sure. Do you remember nothing of the battle?"

Idun shook her head and looked around again, back to the echoes of a ruined Denerim that her mind had created here in the realm of dreams and spirits. "Am I dead?" She dreaded the answer. This was certainly not how she pictured the afterlife, but perhaps the Creators had forsaken her.

Morrigan straightened and regarded the Warden once more, carefully. "I think not, but we both know that it is not wise to wander here too long. You were not badly injured when I left, yet 'tis possible that something happened to you when you took the final blow on the archdemon."

"I killed the archdemon?" Idun asked, relief and shock mingling. She let this idea sink in for a moment. "It's over, then? We defeated the Blight! But… wait, what about Alistair? Is he alright?" Panic gripped her as pieces of memory began to drift back, Alistair calling to her but not able to reach her.

"Apart from blubbering over you, he was fine when last I saw him," Morrigan replied. Idun's body went slack with relief. "It was all quite exciting, Warden, 'tis a pity that you don't remember. The archdemon, sensing that its life was in peril from our attacks, used its last strength to flap to a part of the rooftop that was cut off by a collapsed floor and rubble. It must then have called all the remaining darkspawn in the area to defend it. We were close to being overwhelmed. The only chance we had was to kill the archdemon itself, so you shifted into a wolf…"

"I remember! Now I remember. We could not reach the archdemon, but as a wolf I was able to leap across the divide," Idun recounted. "I was running out of mana and had no lyrium, however. Someone put a paralysis spell on the archdemon…"

'Twas I in fact," Morrigan confirmed with a smile. "I did what I could, though we were all hard pressed and I had little power myself any longer. The arrows of your Dalish hunters also helped keep the dragon at bay. You called for a sword. Alistair squawked and dithered about, not wanting you to take the final blow. When he finally realized that he wasn't going to be able to sprout wings himself, he saw sense and tossed you the sword."

"And I struck the dragon's head," Idun finished. After that, she remembered nothing more. All had gone black.

Morrigan nodded. "Once the archdemon was dead, the darkspawn minions were thrown into confusion and it was child's play to defeat them. 'Twas all very heroic, truly. I am sure the Orlesian girl is writing songs about it as we speak." It was remarkable that even in the Fade, Morrigan could execute a perfect eyeroll.

The two women fell silent a while and the only sounds were the breeze on the plain that pulled at their hair and cloaks, and the crackle of rubble fires behind them. Finally Idun turned and regarded the other mage, eyes flicking to her belly. It was as slim as ever, yet unless Idun had been in the Fade for very long indeed, there would be no telltale yet. She asked quietly, "Did it not work, then? If I am here in the Fade, does that mean you did not get what you wanted?"

Morrigan paused a beat, seemed to check her response before she gave it, perhaps considering giving no answer at all. Finally she did reply. "It did work, as I told you it would. 'Tis possible that in striking the blow, however, that something… happened to you. You were not destroyed in the process, but I believe that the soul of the old god may have passed through you first before it moved on."

Idun absorbed this information. It meant that she was unconscious, her spirit having taken some kind of trauma that was short of death. Morrigan had said that when the soul of the old god entered the baby (Alistair's baby, she recalled, and quickly brushed the thought away), the child would be changed. If that was so, then in passing through Idun, the old god could have changed her somehow, as well, possibly forever. Her eyes scanned the bleak landscape about her and Idun began to be truly afraid. There were dark clouds on the horizon that seemed to be gathering around them, closing in on the wide-open space of the plain.

"You gave me back the grimoire." Morrigan's voice brought Idun out of her thoughts. The elf hesitated, then nodded, remembering. Before they marched on Denerim, she had given Flemeth's tome back to Morrigan. "Why did you do that? You could have kept it for yourself. I would have done the same in your place. If you were able to read it, you could have used it."

"I was tempted," Idun admitted. "I have my own reasons for wanting to increase my power, not least because Flemeth will no doubt be hunting me now and not only you. If I can find my way back, that is. I gave it back to you because I decided that I no longer wanted anything from Flemeth, not at any price. And because… because it's yours. I am sorry that I lied to you, Morrigan. You kept things from me, as well, but about the ritual, there you obviously were telling the truth. Thank you for that."

There was a slight tremor in Morrigan's expression before she got it under control and replied brusquely, "You are welcome."

They fell silent again. Idun glanced up at the dark clouds in the sky, watching them for a time before she spoke again. "You did not find me simply by chance, did you? You came here looking for me." As their eyes met again, Idun knew it was true. "But how did you find me? In all the Fade, how in Mythal's mercy…" She stopped, considering. The archdemon had passed through Idun, affecting her somehow in the process, and then had gone into the baby in Morrigan's womb. If the old god had changed her, then perhaps something of her was left to the old god, as well. Her tone sober, she gave voice to her suspicion. "We are connected now, aren't we, the four of us? You, me, Alistair, and the child. That is how you found me here."

Morrigan made no reply for a moment, but eventually a smile touched her lips. "'Tis possible, yes. And I allow that the thought is not entirely an unpleasant one. You are too valuable a person to be left floundering in the Fade." Her expression and tone grew firm as she added, "Yet I must insist again that when you find your way out of here, neither you nor Alistair attempt to search for me. You gave me your word and I expect you to keep it."

"I gave you my word. Don't give me any cause to regret it, and we have a deal. But, what will you do now? Where will you go?"

Shaking her head, Morrigan replied, "That is not your concern. Truly, 'tis better this way, Warden. We both do what we must. Do not worry for me. Whatever will happen to you, my story is not yet at an end."

"Fair enough." Idun regarded her uncertainly. The memory of seeing Morrigan as a child at Flemeth's hut came back. They had both been the same age. The two mages were not so different, as it turned out. The abomination had a long reach, and what could a child do against it? Idun realized that Morrigan had never known freedom her whole life, and now that she had it, she would be entirely alone. Quietly she spoke up again. "If you ever do need us, find me this way again and we will do what we can to help you."

The human mage seemed unable to speak, though the emotion in her expression was plain. Finally she cleared her throat and looked up at the darkening sky. "'Tis time for you to go now, Warden. Your memories are returned, your sense of self. There should be nothing holding you here any longer."

Idun followed her gaze to the storm clouds and then looked around her. Not knowing how she had gotten here in the first place, she had no idea where to go. Thunder rumbled above them. The Dalish Warden's mind turned to her keeper's dream. Marethari had dreamt that Idun would hold back a great storm but be swallowed up by it herself.

The same thought must have occurred to Morrigan, because she clicked her tongue and snapped, "You are not thinking of that silly dream again, are you? You are all such fools, running off to save everyone but yourselves. And you with your portents! Alistair's fate was not determined on such a basis, was it? You let him choose his own path. Me likewise you have given a chance for freedom. So what will it be for you now, Warden? A pointless death?"

Idun smiled wryly. "I suppose not."

"I should think not. And hurry along. I cannot imagine the pathetic scene that Alistair must be making by now."

After a pause, Idun moved towards the woman and reached out. She had thought first only clasp Morrigan's arm, but went further, embracing her. The human mage was stiff as a board but did lift her arms awkwardly, and eventually she softened a bit. When Idun stepped back, both had moisture in their eyes. "Thank you, Morrigan. Be well, and be careful."

"You likewise, my... my friend. Live gloriously."

Idun turned and after looking this way and that, started back into the ruined city. It had begun there, and she hoped that there she might find a way back.

When her eyes opened, there were others in the room, but Idun saw only Alistair next to her. He sat at the edge of the bed, head bowed, clasping her hand.

"Alistair."

His head shot up. "Oh, thank the Maker." Tears sprang from eyes already bloodshot and ringed with dark circles. Leaning over her, he kissed her frantically and gasped, "I thought I had lost you. Maker, I thought I had lost you."

Idun reached up with her free hand to brush at his cheek. They smiled at one another, then laughed with relief and joy, then kissed again, then laughed some more. It was over. Against all odds, the Blight was ended and they had both survived. She brought Alistair's sword-hardened hand to her lips and kissed it gently before lowering it to her belly. "I'm fine, my love," she assured him. "I got lost for a while, that's all. But I had some help from a friend."

Author P.S.: The premise about the effect of the archdemon on a Warden was based on comments made by Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider in the BioWare Social Network forums. When asked if a Grey Warden was needed to kill the archdemon even if the Dark Ritual had been performed, Mr. Gaider replied that a Warden was still needed, and that the writers' thought had been that the soul of the archdemon must first pass through the Warden who makes the killing blow. -A.