Gus stepped off the wooden cart and swiftly to one side as the convoy continued on its way to Vol Dorma. He called his thanks to the driver, a lonely fellow who appeared to appreciate the company since Gus joined him north of Nevarra.

He waited for the remaining few carts to pass, taking the moment to tighten the straps on his pack and roll his shoulders in an effort to loosen the muscles. He crossed the Imperial Highway and vaulted over the small wall which lined it, heading for an overgrown path which would have been almost indistinguishable from the rest of the landscape unless you were looking for it. It was a road less travelled, one that Grey Wardens found themselves on often.

His trek was winding and treacherous, and while the hours passed the green landscape gave way to crags and dust. Gus was growing tired of persistently squinting and wiping his face clean of dirt. He finally spotted a small crevice to rest. It provided much needed shelter from the arid scrubland. As he dropped his pack on the floor he let out a sigh and collapsed against the rocks.

"Never thought I'd miss Ferelden more than I do right now," he mumbled to himself. Gus found that on such a lonely road, speaking his thoughts out loud made him feel less isolated. It helped...slightly; but the truth was that he had never travelled such a distance and during the Blight he always had lots of company. Even more recently, when he moved the Eluvian with Morrigan and Kieran from the Dragonbone Wastes to the Dales he had his family with him. As the wind whipped around into the crag, Gus scowled.

"I'd even take bloody Orlais over this."

He shook his head, the amount of dust flying from his hair making him cough. He grabbed his water skin, taking a few gulps of water to try and clear his mouth. Thankfully Gus was pretty sure he was nearing his destination; well he hoped he was. Estimating journey time had never been his strong point and he used to leave that to people like Zevran and Leliana; which didn't help with his current state of loneliness. He let out a sigh and his mind wandered to how the hell he ended up in the Anderfels in the first place. Was he even out of Tevinter yet? Too bad there wasn't a soul around to ask.

"After trekking through the Brecilian Forest we finally found our way into the old elven temple. And there they were: Werewolves." It had developed into a routine for Gus to regale Kieran with a good story before bed. Kieran's curious mind always wanted to hear of his fathers' brave adventures and Gus wasn't one to disappoint. "Alistair almost turned and ran back to the Dalish Camp, he was so scared.

"But a stern look from your mother stopped him. He was more scared of her than most other things, even then," Kieran laughed softly at that as Gus paused. He could see Kieran's eyes start to get heavy as he was drifting off. "We made our way further into the temple, facing off against werewolves left and right, even fighting a dragon who guarded a giant pile of treasure. Finally we reached their leader, Witherfang…"

Despite his excitement Kieran's eyes slowly shut as Gus spun his story and his breathing slowed. Once he was sure the boy was asleep, Gus reached out and extinguished the candle and quietly backed out of the tent; pulling the tabs across the entrance. He straightened and turned towards the campfire. Morrigan was sitting on the large fallen pillar they had started the fire next to, completely engrossed in the book she was reading.

"The Alistair stories always send him off the quickest, remind me to tell His Majesty when see him next."

Morrigan looked up at him with a small smile.

"'Tis little wonder as to why," she commented.

"He'll be surprised by you whenever it is when we see him again, you know." Gus said as he began to walk over to sit with Morrigan.

"How so?"

Gus sat and brought his foot up to rest on the pillar.

"You've changed quite a lot, haven't you noticed?"

Morrigan raised an eyebrow and out of the corner of his eye Gus saw she started idly fiddling with the pages of the book on her lap. After a few moments of silence it was obvious that she wasn't going to respond.

"How's the spell coming along?" he asked, changing the subject. Morrigan gave a frustrated sigh.

"Slowly. 'Tis much harder than the one I performed when he was a babe. I have all that I require and the ability to perform it, but there is…a disconnect." She shut the tome with force and dropped it to the ground beside her. It landed with a thud.

"Perhaps you need a change of scenery, The Crossroads are a bit bland once you get over the fact you're between dimensions."

"On the contrary, what could be more inspirational than the most magically mysterious place we can comprehend?"

Gus frowned and studied her face. It had been six years since he'd first met Morrigan in the Korcari Wilds before Ostagar. He remembered it so well; it was like a bubble in time. After fighting through pockets of darkspawn, he had been pretty shattered. He'd just lost his parents and his home to Howe's betrayal and as a result was an emotional mess. Being thrust straight into the Grey Wardens helped with that. It gave him something to focus on and made him feel useful, especially after the battle.

But when he met Morrigan, he didn't know what to think; he'd never seen anyone like her before. In the whirlwind that was the early days of the blight, she gave him perspective and kept him on his toes. She was snappy, scornful and solitary. Gus wanted to figure her out so badly. As baffling as it might sound, she actually might have saved him from having a breakdown.

Now, their relationship was almost completely different. They were different. Everything that had happened in the years following the end of the Blight had changed things. Gus knew Morrigan had placed trust in him and he in her that neither of them could have expected.

In short, Gus knew Morrigan and he knew when she was being pissy. And that she was especially pissy if there was something she wanted to do but couldn't. Like right now.

"'Twould seem you have drifted off, my love." She commented and Gus realised he was staring absently at her.

"I was just debating in my head whether you were going to continue taking out your irritation on me and, if so, how subtly I could drift off to sleep."

The jibe had that desired result.

"Hah. Would you rather I expel my irritation with magic? That could have undesirable physical effects, of course."

"Could it have desirable physical effects?" Gus countered with a smirk.

"That's a risk you'll have to take."

"Hmmm," Gus hummed as he leaned in to kiss her. It didn't take long until they had made their way to their tent across the other side of camp and as they undressed Gus thought that this was better than any outcome he had envisioned a few minutes prior.

Gus woke the next morning with the eerie light of The Crossroads. As he stretched and shuffled about, Morrigan began to stir as well. Her long dark hair fanned out around her adding a youthful softness to her normally sharp features.

"It's another beautiful morning in Maker-knows-where." Gus grinned as her eyes opened. He enjoyed using that phrase here, even though he was never devout, he felt after seeing the Eluvians there was a weight to the story of Andraste and the Maker that had not existed before. Whether they had any influence now, however, Gus doubted very much.

"Indeed. Another day to try and do this damned spell."

"Morrigan, its way too early for you to start complaining about the spell already," Gus said before Morrigan could say anymore.

"'Tis frustrating, is all. Kieran cannot stay here forever and I do not wish him to, but Flemeth will undoubtedly interfere at the first chance she gets. I must hide him from her when we return to Thedas."

"I know. But you need to relax, though. There's not a rush to get Kieran back home. Even if the spell takes a couple more weeks, he won't have missed out on so much. He's still so young,"

Gus turned over onto his belly and propped himself up with his elbows, looking down on Morrigan to his left. He took a deep breath knowing the topic he was about to broach would be none too pleasant.

"I've been thinking about the Calling."

Any lingering sleepiness that lay in Morrigan's eyes quickly disappeared as she sat up.

"You're not dreaming about it?" Morrigan asked with earnest and a frown. Gus shook his head.

"No no, not at all," he said to quickly placate Morrigan's concern, "I don't know how much time it will be before it starts, but I don't want to sit around and wait for it."

Gus sighed and pointedly avoided Morrigan's gaze, looking instead at his pillow. He struggled to put into words what he had to say next.

"I can't go on knowing that one day my mind will betray me and I'll either die fighting darkspawn in the Deep Roads or become a...ghoul," Gus said softly. "Hardly anyone knows anything about it. I need to at least look into it and then even…see if I can cure it. Like Alistair's mother managed to do. Otherwise, I feel...I feel weak."

Gus slowly raised his head to look at Morrigan and she was staring him dead in the eye, her golden irises boring into him. Gus both hated and loved that he still couldn't decipher all of Morrigan's many different stares, but slowly the lines of her face softened.

"I understand. It would be unlike you to ignore the opportunity that Fiona presents."

Gus nodded slowly, knowing that she understood the desire to have control over your future, rather than letting tradition or someone else decide it for you.

"I'll need to go to Weisshaupt and its probably best I went alone."

"I agree. Kieran can go nowhere beyond the Eluvian without this spell and even if it were ready I expect we would draw one too many unwanted questions." Morrigan paused in thought before continuing, "How did you explain your survival to the Orlesian Wardens in Amaranthine?"

"I didn't, really. Everyone was flung straight into the fight with the Architect. I don't know what the Wardens think now. Maybe they assumed I died belatedly or are still trying to figure it out." Honestly, Gus hadn't really thought about this. What does Ferelden think of me now? Am I a mystery or a hero? Or both? "If I feign ignorance with the Wardens then nobody will be the wiser. Eventually, no one will care.

"When we go back to Thedas, no one will see you and Kieran and immediately assume we performed an ancient ritual to direct the Old God's soul into the boy, thus saving my life and preserving the soul in one go. Apart from Flemeth. I don't think either of us plan on seeing her ever again, though."

"True enough. I'm sure there will be some other crisis that will direct any prying eyes elsewhere, if there were any. No fuss has to be made, by us or anyone else and if we treat it as such then no fuss shall be made," Morrigan said with confidence. If anyone knew about being as inconspicuous as possible while being the most conspicuous person around, it was Morrigan. "I hear Weisshaupt has a great library, if you see anything interesting-"

"I'll nick it for you, I promise." Gus smiled as Morrigan did.

"That's my Warden," she murmured as she leaned up and kissed Gus.

As they both got up and dressed, Gus's thoughts turned to Kieran. I'll have to buck up and tell him properly, not like Father used to tell me he was going away; if he didn't cop out and get Mother to do it. I can't imagine this will be easy for him; Morrigan and I are all he's ever known. He followed Morrigan out and chucked a log on the dwindling embers. With a deft flick of the hand, Morrigan brought the campfire to life again just as Kieran emerged from his tent.

No, Gus concluded, not easy; but necessary. Necessary otherwise he'll have to deal with me being gone a lot longer than a couple of months.

Gus was absentmindedly twisting Morrigan's ring when he sensed it. Darkspawn. It was strange, after all these years to suddenly feel the presence of darkspawn again.

He stood and grabbed his longsword, Kallak, from the leather sheath that was slung around his pack. As soon as it hit the air, Kallak's charge let loose its electrical power. It was a sword that had served him well since he acquired it in the thaig beneath Amaranthine. Listening carefully, he advanced to the edge of the crag. He could hear the unceremonious sound of darkspawn stumbling through the dirt around to the right. Unsure as to how many there were, he stayed hidden by the rocks until they emerged in front of him.

Four, he thought. Now was definitely not the time to be speaking his thoughts out loud.

Wasting no time, he padded up behind the Hurlock at the back and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. He felt the intake of a surprised breath just before he sliced Kallak across his throat and let him drop to the floor. Quickly, as the other three began to turn at the sound of the body dropping to the dirt, he drew his war axe from his belt and threw it at the Genlock on the far left. There was an ever-satisfying thud as it found its target. The remaining two Hurlocks drew their swords and brought up their shields.

As the first charged at him, Gus dropped and rolled to the left, bringing Kallak up as he rose to his feet. He felt his arm jar as the sword made contact with the Hurlock's leg. It gurgled as the electricity discharged into the rest of its body. Gus turned and swung Kallak at the Hurlock's back, cutting through the thin armour, before reaching down and grabbing his axe from the chest of the fallen Genlock in one swift movement.

He just managed to take a deep breath and turn slightly before the final Hurlock leapt at him, his sword swinging down at Gus's head. With no time to dodge, he shoved forward into the oncoming attack; the Hurlock's body slamming into him. Gus sprawled back onto the ground, while his foe stumbled above him. The axe was buried in the creature's shoulder and its whole left side was slouched, seemingly unusable.

Its sword fell to the floor and it screamed a guttural cry, slamming its shield down on Gus's chest which knocked the wind out of him. Gasping in a breath, Gus rolled and kicked out with his feet, hoping to knock it off balance. He realised he had just kicked air and scrambled up, immediately turning and swinging Kallak around until it splintered into the Hurlock's shield and crunched its arm into its body. With a last heave of effort Gus jabbed his sword up, under its armour, shoving it as high as he could. The creature collapsed against him and Gus let Kallak drop, the Hurlock with it, to the dirt.

He tried to slow his jagged breathing as he glanced at the darkspawn lying around him. The Hurlock that first charged for him was twitching and scrambling its uninjured leg. Gus knelt down and heaved the Hurlock next to him over, retrieving his sword and axe with his remaining strength. He walked over to the dying Hurlock and finished him off with a swift blow to the head.

"Maker."

Gus had forgotten how much stamina combat took. It had been a long time since he had to fight like that. He slowly began to clean up, wiping his sword and axe with a cloth from his pack and sheathing them, washing his hands from the water skin and drinking deeply from it to wet his dry throat. After a few minutes recovery rest back in the crag, Gus gathered his things and set off again. He could see in the distance the fortress Weisshaupt sitting atop a great, rocky hill just to the right of the almost setting sun. The central tower was looming ominously over the landscape, a reminder of the powerful force the Grey Wardens used to be to all of Thedas, not just the Anderfels. It would only take him another hour or so to reach the gates and the thought of getting out of his dreary, dirty surroundings was very appealing. He set off once more.

He wasn't really sure what to expect from the Grey Wardens stationed there. For starters, he was quite sure no-one would recognise him. His appearance had changed quite a bit since he left Thedas through the Eluvian. Beside the fact he was five years older, his hair had darkened over the years, and also grown down past his chin since he left Orlais. That, combined with a short and ragged beard that Gus was sure Morrigan would despise, meant that he looked more like a common farmer than a Teyrn's son, or Hero of Ferelden. Considering that he was far from Ferelden and had most likely never met any of the Wardens currently in Weisshaupt, there was a good chance he could pass himself off as just another Warden.

Gus new that anonymity would only help him so far. While up until that point it had enabled him to maneuver his way through Orlais and Nevarra and get this far without being called back to Ferelden by Alistair or Maker-knows whoever else wanted him to champion their cause. But with the Wardens of Weisshaupt once again being Warden-Commander Gus Cousland again would be beneficial. For a start, it would give him an official respectable rank to access the information he needed and enough influence as the Hero of Ferelden to blag his way past anything else.

Although news would eventually spread that he had resurfaced it would be slow, at first just amongst Wardens, and take a while to reach those in Ferelden who would act on it. He could deal with that. He didn't expect to be absent for society indefinitely. He liked who he was after the Blight, the gravitas that he had. It felt good to have earned a title rather than just to be born into one.

His tired legs were taking the last few paces up to the gates of the fortress when a bellowing voice reached him.

"Who goes there?"

Gus arched his back, looking up at the battlements in the dusk. Two figures were looking down on him.

"Warden-Commander Cousland. I'm making a long overdue visit."