Moon SAYS: So next chapter; I have only written the Prologue and DA:O. I honestly don't know when the rest will be posted.

NOTES: Lot of information, but please be warned. I AM NOT POSTING OR COVERING THE ENTIRE GAME. When I get to DA: 2, maybe I'll do more. It's her story after all, this isn't. And I want to hurry so I can get to DA:I. Be nice, give it a chance.

PAGES: 14

WORDS: 6, 344

POSTED: 17 Feb 2015

~The Wolf and the Raven~

~Chapter 1- Dragon Age Origins Part 1~

"Tell me, how much longer till we get to Lothering? I want to see Carver," I whined. It deserves the bastard right to listen to me whine. After all, it was because of him we were late. We just had to take the body of the dead Crow to some unknown place near Denerim, burn the body, and bury the ashes. Paranoid bastard.

The elf just chuckled. "Trust me; I know how they search for missing Crows. Although, it might have been better to leave his body in a whorehouse and…adjust his corpse to look like he had been killed by a whore. Ah, I imagine it to be a wonderful way to go."

I rolled my eyes, but a smile tugged at my lips. "I'll make sure you die while suffering from the aftermath of sex."

"Don't knock it till you try it, my dear," my Master laughed. He had been repeating that phrase ever since we heard some junkie say it in Antiva last year. Or did we hear it in the Free Marshes? I just cannot remember.

"Hmm…and how would I do that when you keep threatening or chopping off limbs of any suitors?" I replied with a smirk.

"Oh, you wound me! I don't do it all the time…there was that beautiful eleven whore in, was it two cities back? Ah, so many whores one cannot remember them all." Zevran said with a look of almost bliss on his face.

We weren't even twenty minutes away from his latest whore house that we saw a red-head with a bow. I knew immediately that she was a scout. She also seemed to be in the company of a dwarf…I've seen stranger pairings.

I had the sudden urge to ask her about Lothering especially since we had a report that Darkspawn was seen near the Wilds. That and apparently there were Grey Wardens at Ostagar. Making sure my hood was secure and a nod to my Master to vanish, I approached her. "Excuse me serrah, do you have any news of Lothering?"

The archer stopped and seemed to hesitate before she answered in an Orlesian accent. "We left Lothering a week ago, but we have seen refugees run. It was overrun with Darkspawn. After Ostagar was taken, the Darkspawn are heading north. I'm sorry to bare such news."

I nodded and felt ice fill my veins. "Thank you, serrah. Safe travels in this uncertain time."

We parted, and I went straight to my Master. "My brothers would have been at Ostagar…I would have felt something if they were dead. The Fade…" I trailed off, unsure of how to tell the elf how exactly the Fade connected with my knowing.

"The Fade?" he raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that you couldn't connect with the Fade. Not like most mages."

I shrugged. "Maybe I'm developing? Let's head back to Denerim and see if we can send out searchers."

It took us no time to reach the city again, and daylight had not completely fallen before I sent out my feelers. I made sure to have the contacts in nearby ports, nearby villages, and cities aware of whom I was looking for.

Twilight fell when I was done, and Zev came back with a message. "A new contract. Are you ready to go, my darling?"

I nodded to him, grateful he didn't ask me how I was doing. He knew how I was doing, and he knew what would make it better.

~Wolf and Raven~

Wardens…who knew people would actually want to kill them especially with Darkspawn running about. I knew something was fishy, especially when, even with my hood up but looking into my eyes, Howe didn't even recognize me. I had almost asked why they were to be killed, but my Master signaled for me to leave it be.

Imagine my surprise as I watched from my place on the right hill, that it was Elissa that was the Grey Warden. Did Howe know? But more than that, why was she one?

As five minute had gone by, I saw my cousin was looking a little worse for wear. I was a tad bit upset, though, that Zev would attack her. Maybe he didn't get a good look at her face. I grew bored with watching and thinking. I pulled out a small knife from my boot as I stood up.

"About time you stupid cunt," the idiot archer near me spat. I shoved my knife in his neck before quickly grabbing his bow and what was left of his arrows.

My cousin's archer was working on the other hill, so I decided to help her out on my side. With practiced but not too sure ease (it had been awhile since I used a bow), I took out the fools on my side of the hill. Out of the fifteen arrows left, I had seven. I took a deep breath and aimed for the two that the other archer hadn't taken out. As soon as I let the second arrow loose, she turned straight to me.

Huh, it was that woman who told me of Lothering. I ignored her and took out another arrow and aimed it at the mage that she couldn't see because he was hiding behind the tree near her. When the arrow bounced off, I narrowed me eyes. A barrier…really? Zev always knew how to hire the mages that always got in my way.

I sighed and used the remaining four arrows on the fools hiding behind the wagons near my Master. As soon as he heard the arrow, his eyes snapped to mine. I saw the eyebrow raised and sent a smirk in return before I took a running start and jumped off the hill-cliff and headed straight toward the mage.

Zev had brought three with him, and I noticed there was a scantily dressed mage working her way through the second one as I headed for the third.

My cousin was just full of surprises wasn't she?

Her mage had killed the second enemy mage and was tearing down the third's barrier as I appeared behind the poor bastard. The barrier went down just as I backstabbed him. To make sure he didn't try anything else, I quickly chopped off his head. Mages were tricky bastards.

I winked at the mage and headed toward my cousin. She had just finished off the last of Zev's forces and was standing over him. He wasn't lying too far from the hill where the mages were stationed. He should have spread them out, really, but that wasn't something to think for another time.

"Mmm…what? I…oh. I rather thought I would wake up dead or wake up not at all as the case might be. But I see you haven't killed me yet. Ohh, you're an aggressive little minx aren't you? Lovely, too. But if it is questions you want to ask me, let me save you some time and get right to the point. My name is Zevran, Zev to my friends. I am a member of the Antivian Crows bought here for the sole purpose to slay any surviving Grey Wardens. Which I have failed that, sadly."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," my cousin replied with a snort.

"Ohh," Zev started but I cut his ass off.

"As much as it pains me to stop you from flirting and making a fool of yourself, I'm rather bored." I called out to my Master. "And I'm hungry, Master. Feed me!"

My cousin's head snapped up to where I was sitting with my legs kicking out into the air.

"Master? You failed to mention that name," Elissa distractedly commented. She'd probably have said something to me but she was shocked at seeing me.

"Well, you can call me whatever you wish. Slave has nice ring to it…in certain settings. Like one with a bed, chains, maybe some handcuffs?" Zev cheekily proposed.

"Gross. Did I tell you family was off limits?" I whined again as I jumped down. I looked down at him, sighed, and then looked at Elissa. "Feed me?" I asked with puppy dog eyes. "He's always too lazy. See?" I pointed at him still lying on the ground. "I tell him I'm hungry and he still lies on the ground."

"We already have two dogs in this company, we don't need another one," the mage drily stated as she looked at me unimpressed. "We do have enough begging as it is, no need for more."

I considered for a second and nodded. I bent down and helped Zev up. "So you're a Grey Warden…what happened? Does Howe know?"

Elissa seemed taking back by my question. "Why do you ask about Howe?" then her brain started working and I saw her eyes hardened as she grew angry. "He was the one who hired the Crows to kill the Wardens didn't he?" she demanded.

I nodded as I helped support my Master. My cousin had knocked him out pretty good for him to be this unsteady. "He didn't even recognize me. I'm not that surprised, but still, he was going to marry off one of his sons to me. You'd think he'd remember my face. By the way, what did he do to piss you off, decide you'd have to stop playing with swords once you married his other boy?" I teased.

"Oh ho! I heard that missy. I thought I was the only one you teased sexually," my Master pouted.

The anger in my cousin's eyes immediately left and was replaced with embarrassment and a nice shade of red to her cheeks. "Stop playing with swords?" she hissed, "what do you take me for, a whore?"

"Hey now, there is nothing wrong with whores. My mother was one," Zevran interjected acting offended, but I knew he was enjoying our byplay.

"Clearly," Morrigan said as she looked at him with disgust. She had been on the receiving end of his flirting for years. I always liked coming home because it meant a stop or two to see her and her mother. Flemeth taught me more than I would ever know. It was only when I met her toward the end that I realized what she had done.

"Whoa, hold up, how do you all know each other?" the only man other than Zevran asked.

Elissa and I shared a look before smiling. "Cousins."

"Huh, so you're family with assassins. Might have been good to know before we were ambushed."

I chuckled as I took him in. "He's adorable. Where did you pick this stray up?"

Elissa giggled when the man stuttered a response about not being a dog. "He is a fellow Warden," she sobered up then. "Come, we're on our way to the Tower. I'll fill you in there."

I clapped. "Yay, I get to see Cullen again; I don't normally see him so soon."

"When was the last time you were there?" Elissa questioned as we started to leave the battlefield, her companions listening carefully.

As we walked and I held Zev up, I reached into his bag and got a potion out for him to drink. Once he did, I let him go and fell into step with her. "When we came back to Ferelden, we stopped there first. The Crows sent us here because their contacts said there were a couple of contracts that would need to be filled soon. The first one we got, I destroyed all evidence. I didn't even see who sent it. I didn't care to look once I saw that someone wanted the Couslands dead. That delayed us from finding my family. Lothering was destroyed…" I trailed off, trying not to worry about my family.

Elissa wrapped her arm around my shoulders and squeezed me to her. "I saw them when we went through. In fact, we met Carver and Garrett on the way to Lothering. They left before the Darkspawn reached Lothering. In fact, Carver said if I saw you, he had no doubt I would," my cousin giggled, "that I should tell you they would be okay. When they reached safety, he would send a message to your contact in Denerim."

"I told you they were okay, cara mia," Zev called out to me from behind us where I knew the other three were holding him within weapon's distance in case he tried something. "This is going to be so much fun."

Yes, I had no doubt it would be. How could it not? Death everywhere!

~Wolf and Raven~

The Knight-Commander wasn't going to let my cousin through, Warden or not, until he saw me and Zev. Apparently, he was more confident in us solving the situation than the other ones. I couldn't doubt him, he didn't even know them.

"Since the two of you know the tower, you will be our scouts. You can tell us what's going on and where we are needed." Elissa was always the commander.

We left her little group made up the adorable boy, a Circle mage, and a Qunari (after I suggested that another warrior would be better than an archer). Morrigan told us in no uncertain terms she didn't wish to go inside. Saying something about them making their bed and they should lie in it.

We headed sneaky like through the first floor covering the entire thing in less than ten minutes. When we couldn't avoid it, we destroyed shades and demons alike, but we usually went undetected. When we reported about on the first floor, Elissa decided that we should just go together. She'd send us a head a few rooms, but it'd be faster if they started clearing it out instead of waiting for us to finish. Or at least that's what she said after the Circle Mage complained that we wasted time that could be used to save others.

Second floor had a fucking Revenant. We triggered the bitch by accident, and Elissa came running when she heard us fighting.

I can't remember which floor had a Tranquil or the wardrobe mage, but I made sure they were sealed in with a ward or two to keep them safe.

The third floor had a room that I refuse to let Elissa go into. I practically had to shove my entire body into hers and throw her back so she wouldn't go in it.

"What the fuck?" Elissa cried as her head snapped back and body collided with the wall behind her.

"Don't go in there," I warned her. "There is something in that…I can feel the Veil torn." I racked my brain to try and figure out what could be behind that door.

"How do you know that, child? I do not feel such. The Veil in the entire Tower is torn." Wynne questioned me, then as an afterthought she caught my other words. "How do you feel the Veil torn? You are not a mage...are you?"

I growled at her. "Besides the fact that the Veil is torn so great that even a non-mage can feel it? Yes, I do feel it." I shivered. "The Fade isn't supposed to be like this. It's not like the rest of the place." I stared at the door trying hard to sense what was on the other side. "I'm extremely sensitive to magic to the point I can, like a Templar, sense magic not only in a person but if it is used."

Zev came to my rescue before the others could question my ability and the fact I didn't answer the question about being a mage or not. "Is it a demon?"

My eyes lit up and I turned to him. "It's not an ordinary demon like the Rage ones we have fought so far. This is isn't mindless. That's why it feels different. There is a higher level demon inside that room and it's half in the Fade and not. Let's see if there is a way around it."

"NO!" Wynne thundered. "We have to defeat it and see if there are those in there that can be saved."

Elissa was a quiet for a moment. "Let's check out the rest of the floor first. If it is a higher level demon then it will be a difficult fight. I don't want to be weak when trying to take on something else. We will destroy it," she assured Wynne when the older woman wanted to argue, "but we need to see if there are others to rescue first—those people in there, if there are, they aren't going anywhere."

Zev and I nodded, and we were gone before they had started to take past it.

They caught up to us as we were finishing up raiding the First Enchanter's study. I had found an interesting book for Morrigan to look through. I could have sworn I had seen something like it before.

After exploring the rest of the floor, we discovered that it was blocked off and we had to go through the demon to advance.

I didn't expect a Sloth Demon. They are always so annoying. When I felt him start to gather power, I launched myself at him, and I ended up cutting him too before my vision went black.

When I woke, I noticed everything around me was faded. It didn't look like the normal world. I started panicking. I was in the Fade.

My entire being was split into two at that moment. One part felt at home, confident that nothing here could hurt me for I had power. There other was panicking.

I'malone.I'malone.I'malone.I'malone.I'malone.

That one thought was taking over me to the point that the other part, the one at ease, was being drowned out. I was scared. I didn't want it to be the way it was. I didn't want to be trapped again. Waiting. Just waiting for someone to hear me, someone to notice me, someone to want me.

. .

Again.

That was when I felt something. Something came up behind me and arms wrapped around me. The warmth was soothing and the peace started to overrule my fear.

"It's okay. I'm here. I won't leave you…you aren't alone. I found you again. You will never be alone again."

The soothing voice was something that was tugging at my memories.

Faith? No. Angst? Definitely not. Longing? A deep pain sliced through me. No, dead. That only left…

"Yes, you needed me, called for me, so I am here."

I took deep breaths to calm myself, to allow myself to relax. "What about the others? Can you sense them? Did you hear anything about them?"

I felt him shake his head. "I felt you come. You've been gone so long…" he trailed off; he had no need to explain. I understood him. "The Sloth demon tried to pull you under one of his fake dreams. You resisted enough to confuse him. He couldn't hear your song…he didn't know what you wanted, needed. It was the same with the other one who was with you. Sadly, there were four who he did hear."

I wanted to turn around, look at him, embrace him, but I knew I couldn't. I'd be gone soon. I was already hurting over…no, must not think about it. I couldn't bear to see someone I cared for only to lose him when I returned. I knew I wouldn't wholly remember him either. My mind would try and protect me. It would place him deep inside me.

"That's okay. You won't forget me; you never have. You sing to me always. I've been watching over you, your dreams. You're safe. You're not alone. Never again…that's what we promised. And if it hurts to look, don't look. I never want to hurt you. Someday, you will see me, and it won't hurt."

I laughed softly. "Oh, Lath, it will be soon. We will be together again, just you wait."

He squeezed me once more before I felt him fade away. I knew he would watch over me as I traveled a place I had never been before but was so familiar. Sometimes I hated the fact that my memories came and went. I knew my mind did it to protect me and no overwhelm me, but it was getting tiring.

~Wolf and Raven~

I hadn't been far from Elissa, and we went from one of our friends to another. Each friend disappeared once we made them realize they were in the Fade—it always involved a fight. I stayed back for Elissa's friends, but when it came to my Master, she let me wake him up.

I watched him being tortured and was curious…was this a memory? Elissa poked me after I stayed there watching the scene for a few minutes. "As lovely as it is to see him naked, go, she commanded.

"Master?" I called tentatively to him as I walked toward him. "When did you get tortured like this?" my curiosity got the better of me, so sue me. Besides, he liked pain.

"Master?" Zevran asked with confusion heavy in his voice. "But I'm not yet a Crow…"

I ignored everyone else and focused on him. "Zev, you're in the Fade. Remember the Sloth demon? HE trapped you here, and, like always, I am here to save your skinny ass."

"But you like my ass skinny! You always said it was easy to kick…" he paused as everything was coming back to him. "I'm not the one who always needs saving. You're the damsel—"

He was cut off by the fight, and then he disappeared afterwards before he could say anything.

"Have you ever seen him naked before?" Elissa asked. Apparently, curiosity ran in our blood.

"He likes to sleep in the nude." I replied. "And before you ask, he wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole. We flirt, but he sees me as a daughter, a sister more often than not. It' not fair! He corrupts my mind, and then when something may happen with someone, he goes all papa bear." I grumbled.

She only laughed at me. I had to wonder why she asked though…was his charm working on her, I wondered?

~Wolf and Raven~

As we were almost to the top, the chamber where they did the Harrowings, there was a man behind a barrier. I was horrified as I realized who it was.

"Cullen," I whispered in pain as I pushed my body into the barrier, trying to get to him. "What happened? What have they done to you?"

"This trick again? I know what you are. It won't work. I will stay strong." Cullen moves to his knees.

"Cullen," I said softly as I move to my knees with him. "It's really me. Whatever they've done to you…they will pay. I will rip them apart…" I trailed off as I saw his eyes widened.

"Your eyes…Mora? Is it really you? Oh thank the Maker. They deserve to die, all of them! Uldred most of all. They caged us like animals. Looked for ways to break us. They tried to use you to get to me. I'm the only one left. They turned some into monsters, and…there was nothing I could do." My Templar sounded so broken. "Only mages are susceptible to the whisperings of demons."

"That's enough! It is a discussion for another time. Irving and the other mages who fought Uldred, where are they?" Wynne snapped and took control of talking with Cullen. Bitch, how dare she snap at him?

"They are in the Harrowing Chamber," because, really, where else was there in this damn Tower they could be? "The sounds coming from in there, oh Maker."

"They are in grave danger, we must hurt." Wynne urged Elissa.

"You can't save them. You don't know what they've become!"

"He's right, Elissa." I agreed as I turned to her. "They could already have demons inside of them and we might never know."

"But what if they aren't possessed?" Elissa questioned. "Can you use your sensor powers to figure it out? You knew that there was that demon on the other side of the door."

I looked at Cullen, and his eyes demanded me to kill them. For Justice, for safety. I turned to my Master and he only shrugged at me. Either way, he didn't care. He'd prefer to kill, but he'd follow.

"They've been surrounded by blood mages whose wicked fingers snake into your mind and corrupt your thoughts."

"Wicked fingers, eh?" Zev asked, but everyone ignored him.

Alistair spoke for the first time. "His hatred for mages is so intense…the memory of his friends' deaths is still fresh in his mind."

"Wouldn't your mind be consumed with the memory as well?" I snarled. "You don't know what it's like to watch your friends die because of magic, especially blood magic."

My intense reply shut him up and the others' eyes went wide. Zev's eyes softened. "You can't forget?"

"He died saving me! How could I ever forget Fenrir? I still can't sleep without seeing, feeling, the blood magic wash over us." I shivered the ghost of the nightmare was haunting even awake.

Cullen reached a hand up as if he wanted to comfort me but the magic cage stopped him. "You understand, especially with how special you are, the danger of mages and magic. You have to end it now before it's too late."

"I want to save everyone that it is possible to save if I can." Elissa insisted.

"Are you really saving anyone by taking this risk? What if they are corrupted? Even if they don't have demons inside of them, hiding, waiting, how long before they repeat the horrors of what happened here? A good bit of good mages turn to blood magic because they are scared. Who's to say in a day, week, or month they won't resort to it because for any reason?" Cullen took a breath. "To ensure that this horror is ended…to guarantee that no abominations or blood mages live, you must kill everyone."

Elissa struggled with what to do. I could see it in her eyes that she knew I was right, that Cullen was right, the risk was great. But in the end, she was soft.

"I'd rather let maleficarum live if it meant that innocents wouldn't be harmed."

"I knew you would make the rational choice." Wynne commented.

"Rational? How is this rational? Do you understand the danger?" he turned to me, his anger more than clear, and he pleaded with me. "Don't let them do this. You know this is a mistake."

Wynne responded with a calm voice but it didn't help. She only made it worse. She accused him of being angry and taking it out on others. Fool. If it was one thing I knew, it was that Cullen put the Templar order before anyone and everything. When he found out I could do magic, he had me tested immediately—he didn't lock me up first because he believed me when I said I wasn't a mage. I had to tell him what happened, but he trusted me enough to have me tested instead of locking me up.

The Qunari spoke for the first time. "He is right. The infection must be cleansed before it spreads."

After my cousin Warden persuaded him that this wasn't so simple, I spoke up.

"We have wasted enough time arguing. Just go, Warden. We will deal with what happens to the rest of them later. Uldred needs to be dealt with now. "

She nodded, and we with her crew, they headed up. I turned toward Cullen and I gave him a nod and left with them.

After we had killed the abominations and Uldred, I had turned to finish the rest of them off when Wynne got in my way.

"I will kill you old woman with no regret at all." I warned her.

I gave a cruel smile when I heard my master say, "That's my girl!"

It was only when Elissa commanded me to stand down that I did. I looked at her hard, and then I realized that it wasn't her decision—it as the Knight-Commander's. He already trusted me more than my Cousin. She had never been around mages and magic before.

When we got to the Knight-Commander, the arguing started. Wynne, Cullen, and Irving, back and forth.

"Enough," I coldly demanded. "You're arguing makes me want to mash my head into the wall, and Maker knows I will take it out on all of you."

The Knight-Commander appraised me and the others before replying. "I am inclined to take Irving's world for it, but," he paused. "You, my Lady Crow, tend to have a six sense about matters of magic. What are your thoughts?"

I saw the Warden, my cousin, grit her teeth. Had she become accustomed to the power of command? She had always wanted to be like her father and brother: at the head of armies. And now she was finding I was out ranking her. Pity thing jealousy is.

My decision should have been backing up Cullen, but I knew my Master and I were going to be spending the Blight with her (he was developing a crush I could see), so I decided to be diplomatic.

"As much as I want to not take any risk, we are in a Blight. Knight-Commander, I say test every fucking mage that survived. I'd say using the Binding would work. If there is an abomination inside any of the mages, then cutting off their access to magic would surely kill it. As for the blood mages…unless they've used blood already, you can't tell."

Wynne of course was outraged that I suggest binding a mage's magic.

"It's better than killing them!"I snapped. "There is a fucking Blight out there right now. We don't need another blood mage rebellion in this Circle. Besides, it isn't permanent. There have been tests done that show an abomination cannot live without magic for a week. And that's because that how long it takes to get the magic from a mage's system. Take it or leave it."

I could see the tension leave the Knight-Commander. He knew that trusting Irving was a risk, and after what just happened…it seemed like he didn't really want to risk it. My solution worked for everyone.

I spared a glance at my new commander. She nodded her approval at me. We both knew the risk was great. After all, the treaties were useless if no one was allowed to answer to them. Besides, she didn't want to fight alongside blood mages either.

~Wolf and Raven~

I never really liked Orzammar nor was I too fond of the Deep Roads. I decided to stay with my new friend, the almost-Templar Warden. I had told my cousin of my…condition. And the Qunari, Sten. Actually, I told him first. After we left Kinloch Hold first.

Apparently, my cousin gets weirded out when she hears people speaking in a language she doesn't know. I was brutally honest with the Sten, and he believed me. I told him of my time with his people, of what they had thought my condition was, and where they placed me.

"You follow the Qun?" he asked surprised.

I shrugged. "Not really. I was lost, and I didn't understand what happened to me. The Qun, the Qunari, they helped. But I can't truly follow the Qun because of what I am. I don't fit in, but it doesn't stop the Arishok from giving me a job or two. He called his Halfling. I was half in half out. He tried making me do different jobs, but none stuck quite like me killing shit."

"I've heard of the Halfling. I will be honored to be your Arvaarad despite you not being a Saarabas."

My cousin was pretty okay with it; she was also okay with me not using the magic at my command, "It's your choice," she said, "but I expect if we are dying or about you, you do what you have to to keep us alive."

While she had fun in the Deep Roads, I was assigned with my almost-Templar Warden buddy, Sten, and Morrigan. Elissa took the rest with her into the Deep Roads, the archer, though, was the stay at camp to protect our Dwarves. My job was to run around Orzammar helping people, gaining influence for whoever we decided to be King, and to keep from getting bored really.

"Excuse me, serrah," I paused as a female Dwarf was calling for me. Apparently the girl wanted to study magic though she had no magic. Dwarves don't have magic…

I raised an eyebrow as I considered her. "I think sometimes an outside perspective does help, but I wouldn't want to go to the Circle in Ferelden. It may be closer, little one, but it just suffered from a blood mage/abomination assault." I stopped and considered what other Circles would be okay when it hit me. "I'll do you one better, kid. I've got contacts in the University of Orlais. Do you want me to ask them if they will accept you?"

The way she nodded made me think her head was going to fall off. I went from there to find my contacts here and sent off the message.

By time they returned from the Deep Roads, I had already sent Dagna on her way, and Bhelen was well on his way to being King.

I was just glad when it was over and ready to move on until she told me where to. I shared a look with my Master. Forests, really? I had to put my foot down. I wasn't going, and I wasn't going to wait around while she finished with the Dalish.

Instead of being upset that I questioned her command, which I thought she would be with the way she acted before, she just laughed.

"Fine, go take your team to Redcliffe. Alistair said he grew up there and he is a Warden, so you should be okay."

I agreed and told her to meet me in Lothering when she got finished. If she got finished before we did, she was to make her way to us.

It was kind of funny, though, that despite only defending the blasted village from the undead, she had finished at the same time as we did. Unfortunately, for her at least, it took her time to reach us. By the time she did find us, we had already stormed Redcliffe Castle and were waiting for her to see what to do about hunting for some mystical Ashes.

While we did defend the Village, I think I earned a follower for life. I found Sten's sword (and I didn't do it on purpose). Inside the Castle, though Alistair loved me for finding him something of his mother's, but that kind of got canceled out when I used blood magic to dispossess the boy.

"I can't believe you are considering this! Especially after you said at the Tower. You wanted to kill each and evil blood mage there, even if a mage didn't happen to be one. And now, you want to do it?" the young bastard prince questioned me.

Yeah, that I wasn't expecting either. Of course, I wasn't expecting zombies either, but I don't think anyone expect those. If I never see another one of them again, I'll think I'll be happy.

I growled at the boy. He wasn't being adorable now. "We have no choice! How long would it take to get the Tower? Does this boy have that long before the demon breaks hold of the stasis I have it in? Let's say for the argument, that we can save the boy even wasting time, are the mages recovered enough to be able to do this? I don't think there is enough. Make forbid how much Lyrium it'll take. I hate that we have to use blood magic, but magic is tool. It is to serve man. We can control it."

He snorted. "And how many abominations said that?"

I blinked and giggled. "Now, you're adorable again."

"Stop flirting and just do it." Morrigan rolled her eyes, although I could tell she was amused. There was also something in her eyes…like she knew something I didn't. Maybe she knew why I detested blood magic and another part of me was clinical and okay about it. It's probably just like before when I went into the Fade, half of me felt like home and the other freaked out.

"Besides, you need to stop telling him he is adorable. If he doesn't burn from the embarrassment, your Master will kill him because the elf will think he is corrupting you."

Good point. I ignored the Warden getting all huffy, and tell the blood mage to get started.

"You will need a mage to go into the Fade," his eyes went to Morrigan. "Are you ready?"

The Apostate chuckled darkly. "I do not fancy going into the Fade. You will do it, Raven."

I rolled my own eyes. "I expected that. Just start," I ordered the mage who started all of this.

He came to me again. This time he didn't just watch over me; he fought the Desire demon with me. I was actually going to talk with the demon, I was curious of what it was that I desired, but my Guardian didn't let it get that far. The demon stood no chance.

When I came out of the Fade, my Master was there holding my body. "Welcome back, did you bring me something?"

A few in the room laughed, others smiled. "Am I not gift enough?" I pouted, playing as if I was upset that I wasn't enough.

Then it was ruined when Alistair told on me.

"Not cute!" I groaned as I stood up. "Not cute at all to tattle on someone."

~Wolf and Raven~