Disclaimer: All Characters, lore, and locations of Mass Effect and Bioware belong to BioWare. The story is of my own thought,

Inspired by totallybursar's Stars Fade. Please for the love of all that is beautiful, read this story, Stars Fade is a work of art. I was so inspired by it.

Chapter Title: Courtesy of Skillet and their awesome Inspiration.

"Whispers in the Dark"

It has been a long time since I woke from a slumber as deep as this. It has been a long time since I have woken from the nightmares that plague my mind. But I try to remember why I was tripped into the Fade in the first place.

I remember the Tower. We had fought long and hard to make it to the top. But who is we…and why were we fighting. Who were we fighting? I tried to sit myself up on the cold like floor. My vision is blurred. I can't see anything but the dim red colored air around me. I taste stale air, as if I was in a tomb. Am I in the Deep Roads? Wait…I remember…the darkspawn...Denerim! Denerim is burning and I'm in the Deep roads?! My eyes are struggling to regain their strength. I try to move further but my body aches in pain. I try to summon a hint of magic, but to no avail, I was completely drained.

What was I fighting…who is we? Wait…I remember. Alistair, Shale, and Maharial were there! We were all in Denerim. The Archdemon! The battle! How did I get here? Am I a prisoner? Why does the floor feel like the cold blade? This place is nothing like the roads I know of. What had happened to the battle? Did we win? Ugh my mind is in shambles. Why my memory is as poor as a nug's diet. I remember parts…more like bits though…I see Shale…slamming her stone body into the Archdemon…I see Alistair piercing the foul thing's skin with his blade…I see Maharial moving like a leaf in the wind, dodging the dragon's minions, only to send his own wrath back at them tenfold. But then I see my staff in my hands, standing over the demons head, positioned for the final blow. The Archdemon stirred, the whispers of the Taint quickly re-entering my mind. I take my strike. The staff pierces the demon's skull. And then the light engulfs me…the pain is incredible. I feel a moment of weightlessness, and then a push…I am gone.

What in the Maker's name happened? There are so many questions I need to ask…hopefully I can move . . . to the damn wall.

2184 CE

The tunnel that the man found himself in was dimly lit, a red light shining down from the roof. As his vision clear his environment became clearer as he struggled to move. From what he felt, most of his ribs must have been broken in some fashion. Usually he would just attempt to set and heal them himself, but his magic would not be summoned. He felt drained, tired as he finally propped himself against the wall. He looked around the dark tunnel, seeing that it was not just any tunnel. The tunnel wall behind his back and torn robe was cold to touch, the eerie tone of a hum throughout the tunnel. He saw that the tunnel was made of some sort of metal.

"These Deep Roads must run deeper, I must be in some dwarven ruin," he thought to himself.

The man was laid against the cold wall for two hours, trying to rebuild his mana and stamina, enough so that he could heal his ribs. He wouldn't be able to find out where he was if he couldn't move at all. But then something caught his eye.

The tunnel was not faceless, in his vision he could see barely two feet in the red dark light. The entire tunnel had brightened since his awakening. In front of him, what looked like an altar to him, small but intricate, but it was what was at the base that really caught his eyes. His bag… the bag that carried everything essential to him during the Blight, was just sitting there.

"Why the hell didn't I notice that before?!" the man said, mentally kicking himself in the ass. Trying to move, as if he could, the painful reminder of his ribs came like a dagger to the spine…or the burning sensation of a Templar's cleanse. He finally was able to move slightly, getting closer and closer to the bag until he reached it, pulling it towards him while resetting himself against the wall. He quickly looked inner side of the flap of the pouch, reading the embroidered lettering.

"Property of Nihlus Amell, Do not attempt to pass the pouches' barrier, you will spontaneously combust."

"Ah shit…" Quickly remembering about the enchantment he had placed on it, he removed the enchantment stone from the pouch, and setting aside before this whole cave was set aflame. Why he ever had Sandal place a rune that makes things spontaneously combust was beyond him. He then quickly threw the away the thought of Sandal saying "Enchantment," trying to see if what he was searching remained in here. He scoured through the pockets and sleeves of the pouch. It seemed his search was for ill-fated, finding a light blue liquid under all the glass bottles and papers that were soaked with the liquid.

But he did find three, however only three, vials that had the liquid inside.

"If there is a Maker, he smiles upon me today!" he shouted.

He quickly took one of the vials and gulped down the bitter tasting liquid, feeling almost instantly rejuvenated.

"Ah Lyrium, bad for the throat, great for the soul," he said as if he downed a fine whiskey. But he quickly turned to his ribs and his other wounds, wisps of energy twirling between his fingers until they formed orbs of calm opalescence. He pressed his hands and the energy on his abdomen, feeling this magic do its work. Inside his body, the broken ribs were connecting seam by seam, until the ribs was nothing but bruised. He stopped as soon he felt the ribs literally snapped back into place. Nihlus quickly returned to his other wounds, a twisted ankle and some cuts that presented themselves more as time went on.

Nihlus dispersed the magic, letting his mana rest for the moment. He returned his thoughts to the pouch staring at the remaining vials inside. As he looked at them he thought, "How can I ever survive on just 2 vials!? Blasted Maker has a twisted sense of humor, leaving me with two vials in some metal corridor."

He took the pouch and sealed it, placing the rune in its one pocket without setting the trap it was again. No doubt he would possibly need it in the future, and he didn't need to be set on fire accidently . . . by himself. He tried to quickly stand up, feeling the tender ribs stretch as his back straightened. He quickly examined the rest of the patch, seeing the strap was still intact. He then reviewed himself. He saw his robes were tattered, the mantle shredded, but the majority of it was still intact. It would most likely not survive a few months travel but he had to move at some time. He strapped the pouch onto his side belt. As soon as he was satisfied with the condition of his gear, he looked at the corridor again. He saw that there were no other real fragments, not even of his staff, Vessel. "The Archdemon… the energy must of annihilated Vessel," he thought, This is the last time I let an Elf and a swamp witch play house to stop demi-god from killing its killer's soul."

"And that's the last time I take the final blow… blasted elf and his games. But…I'm still alive…and this couldn't be the Fade!"

"By Oghren's Mother's Beard!" he shouted, "Morrigan! Your mother isn't crazy after all; you should of listen to that crazy dragon lady for more often!"

As he ranted, his shouts would echo throughout the tunnel, the sound of his voice immediately bouncing off the sound reflecting walls. But as Nihlus was about to continue, he would hear a sound down the tunnel to his left. He stopped his speech, quickly trying to listen to the sounds again.

-click-click-click-click-

"What in Andraste's ass?" he asked himself. Despite the light of the tunnel, Nihlus summoned up a wisp of light, to illuminate the tunnel even more, he looked around once more. He looked at the altar-like object again; its archaic form seemed to pique his interest. He realized the room was actually more circle-like with a dome like top and the light source form the top. The room was connected to two tunnels, one leading right and the other left. His first major decision to date;

"Left it is then . . . please let it be nugs. I've had enough of Darkspawn to last several lifetimes."

The tunnel was long and narrow, the metal walls and floor echoing his footsteps. The red light of the domed room he left had left him, the only light being from the wisp. The tunnel seemed to be unending to Nihlus. If anything it seemed to go on for hours, but it was only minutes since he started his small adventure. The wisp of light seemed to flicker as he lost his concentration at moments of time. His injuries were still tender from being reset and healed but this was not stopping him from moving. Although a limp was causing him to move more slowly than usually, sometimes magic cannot heal everything in the body. His leg was not only broken but almost shattered, when he did his sessions earlier, the bones did not set just right and he has had to conduct more and more sessions as he limped.

"I see I found another reason why Mages have staves."

He kept hearing the mysterious sounds continue further into the tunnel, as if whatever was making the sound was evading him. But to what point? He saw that the tunnel soon reached a corner. At that moment he saw the corner the sounds had halted. Nihlus hugged the wall and started to creep up to its edge, peering over, trying to see what was at the other side of the corner. He killed off the wisp, hoping to not be seen by whatever As he look over the edge, he saw something awfully peculiar.

Some sort of…bug? It stood on four legs, four arms that were extended to some sort of panel, and was covered in a green sickly colored carapace. The creature had either not spotted Nihlus, or it was simply ignoring him. But what interested Nihlus was the pack on the creature's back and the panel it was fiddling with. The panel was orange but transparent. Nihlus thought it was some sort of apparition, something like in the fade. But the creature's fingers pressed onto the panel, moving and shifting runes imprinted on it, from what Nihlus could make out. It bathed the creature and the tunnel in a dim orange light. The pack seemed to be made of sheets of metal but he saw no straps or anything. In pure curiosity, Nihlus threw a small spark at the creature, just enough to give it a small jolt, small enough it could only twitch a nerve. As the spark flew and landed on the creature's skin, something odd happened.

The creature paused. The spark quickly dissipated on the creature's carapace. Nihlus thought the thing was finally ready to attack or something. But the carapace started shifting, as if it was melting. As Nihlus watched on, the creature's carapace and even the pack itself was in a silver puddle.

It was…disturbing…

"Really? Not like I summoned a tempest or anything," he said while approaching further towards the puddle, turning the corner. As he reached the puddle, he noticed that the darkness of the tunnel was covering. It was a small chasm that stretch side to side endlessly, it even seemed like the chasm seemed to curve. Nihlus approached the chasm, making sure he didn't step into the puddle and slip.

"Maker, came all this way to slip and fall to my death? Perfect idea Nihlus. Just perfect."

As he looked over the edge of the chasm, he could see a distant light shining from the bottom.

"Wishing Flemeth taught me that dragon trick…flying would really help at the moment," he said moving his attention to the glyph panel. He took a closer look at the mysterious panel, accidently stepping into the melted insect.

"Blast, last time I wear leather soles to a battle with an Archdemon."

He took a quick look at his feet and then back to the panel, and to him he couldn't read or translate a damn thing on the panel. The runes and glyphs rolled and shifted rapidly as he tried to keep up. He noticed a repetition in the movement of the panels. Seeing an obvious pattern, like in most dwarven ruins, the Warden touched several of the glyphs. Suddenly the panel disappeared. Its orange light quickly darkening the tunnel.

But his head turned as the tunnel at the other side of the chasm seemed to shift and move. Perplexed, he stepped towards the chasm again. Under his sight, a bridge quickly extended to the other side, momentarily startling the Warden. The Warden, recovering from the small shock, took several steps onto the bridge. Seeing that it was stable enough to cross, he quickly got over to the other side. He stopped for a moment, seeing a moving circle-like glyph moving on the wall…in front of him?

"A dead end? Well that seems redundant-," quickly turning behind him, a wall shutting vertically behind him, interrupting him. Before he could lay a curse out, the room around him moved. A large grinding sound could be heard from what seemed to be outside the now enclosed room. He could feel pressure moving onto him, and Nihlus could immediately tell that the room was going up…or more like "he" was going up.

After what seemed to just be hours of going in the same direction, up, the blasted room stopped moving. Despite the length of the ride, the speed was grueling for someone like Nihlus; he immediately emptied his stomach once the room stopped.

As he composed himself, the glyph on the wall disappeared, and the wall it was placed on him moved and shifted to the side, revealing a much more…open area. Nihlus got back on his feet, moving quickly out of the enclosed death trap.

"That's it. I refuse to ever be in small places ever again. That includes the Deep Roads."

But the world he just stepped into was much different than he just came out of. The walls were now lit with runes and pictures, pictures he couldn't necessary make out. But once he turned a corner he would see a much larger world. He looked on, baffled by the moving masses of…people? They sure weren't darkspawn to him.

"Oh I'm definitely not in Denerim anymore."

He noticed that like him, there were humans…and some were close but not right. There were no elves, no dwarves, and no Qunari. Nothing that ever seemed too familiar. But then two figures started approaching him,

"Make that five…and they don't look friendly," he thought to himself. He began moving slightly back to where he came, but then he could see a clearing. He saw something descend from the sky, the capsule like object opened, and four more figures appeared, two were humans for sure. The other two had a scaly like skin covered by some carapace, looking and even sounding like birds. The humans and the birds were talking to each other, but he couldn't understand either of them, it was like the humans were speaking a language he never heard of. Tons of information was racing through his head and it was getting a little too much. Nihlus started to survey the other figures, all of them were clad in blue, the humans in a cloth and the birds had something similar to armor. There was one female…blue and had…tentacles on her head. To Nihlus she could have just been an abomination or even a new Darkspawn.

The figures circled him, taking things off their belts and backs. When the objects started shifting and unfold and when the "people" started pointing them at him, one word popped in his mind.

"Weapons," he said.

One of the humans tilted his head and quickly said something, something Nihlus could finally understand.

"C-Sec Security! Put your hands where we can see them! Identify yourself!" the white-skinned human said.

Nihlus just looked at the man, wondering what to say. He raised his voice, answering "Question me not, guard. I'm on Warden Business! Tell me, where is the nearest Thaig? Why are Human guards be in the Deep Roads? Where's your Legionnaire guide? And what is that...that thing!?" he said pointing to the bird-like creature next to to the human. To himself at least, he sounded like an idiot. Although it was true that where ever he was there was no true sky. He hadn't seen anything, so it would be a good guess that he was in the Deep Roads. But there was no way in the Fade that they even knew what he was talking about.

"Sir, we will not ask again, Put your hands in the air, drops to your knees and put your hands on your head! Now!" another human, with a slight accent said.

"Orlesian?" he thought to himself as the group still circled around him. Their obvious weapons looked nothing like he'd ever saw. A crossbow maybe? Seems very likely...but I don't see where the bolts would go. I didn't see them load any in," he said to himself.

"Sir we can do this the easy way or the hard way." a gruff human voice said. It was one of the humans behind him. The man had an aged face and blonde hair. From the look of him he was definitely military.

"You know, people shouldn't really give me those kind of options. I tend to do it the hard way," he thought again.

Nihlus didn't like feeling trapped, it reminded him of situations with the Templars…with Jowan and Lily. Nihlus always had his companions to count on, every one of them from start to finish. But no he was alone. But he wasn't without help.

He reached his hands into the air as the human said, quickly scavenging the rune from his pouch. The human in front of him, approached him as he started lowering to his knees. But as the human male reached towards his wrist, he would basically do everything in his ability to be free.

Nihlus took the man's wrist, quickly rising up and striking the man in the face and bending the wrist, hearing the bone snap. His ventures and exposure to the Arcane Warrior phylactery in the Brecilian was truly paying off. He then threw the man towards the group in back of him, throwing the rune at the armored bird. The rune bounced off the armor of the bird. The group of guards looking stunned, the bird reached down and picked the rune up. As Nihlus stood there and watched the creature, it examined the rune by moving its three fingers against and around it. But the rune had now started to glow.

The eyes and mandibles that Nihlus could tell were in the state of shock when the rune final worked its magic, the creature instantly having flames burst upon its figure. The creature writhed in noises and vocals Nihlus couldn't even imagine. As the rest of the group backed up, Nihlus felt something crack onto the back of his skull. As his body limped forward to ground, his vision began to blacken. He looked at the burning body of the dead creature. The rune now lying on the ground. The blue female took her foot and crushed the small pebble. He looked up, before the heel of her boot met his face.

"Shit."

2185 CE

The dark room glowed from the light of a thousand suns, ever changing like the galaxy around him.

The Illusive Man took several inhales as he stared into the sun's massive form. The lifeblood of the galaxy right in front of him, from the material generated by the sun would fuel the future of the ever expanding galaxy. A galaxy that would find itself victim to an enemy, an enemy that dwarfs the power of the solar giant a thousand fold. But there was one who proved to be even stronger. Despite the odds, she survived and became a hero, and gave humanity its proven ascendance onto the galactic stage. She would even show death that even she can't be taken from this galaxy, with a little help of course.

The room then showed an opposite light, coming from the interior of the room. The Illusive Man looked towards the glowing base of the communicator as his console pinged several times. An image started appearing, the faded and blue pieces forming and shifting to form a more complete image. There stood a woman, brunette, with an armor completely engulfing her figure. Her eyes, a deep brown peered towards the Illusive Man, her eyes saying:

"What the hell do you want?"

The Illusive Man stepped closer to the QEC base, directly facing the woman in question, continuously inhaling the smoke of the cigarette in his hand. And then he began to speak.

"Shepard…we have a development."

(A/N: Well guys, here is my first ever crossover and my first full length story that I intend to go further along with. If you need more insight to Nihlus, you can read my story Vigilance which is under the Dragon Age category. I didn't feel like following the Origins story. Its long, predictable, and overly done in all nature so instead I will be providing something called the Author's Codex. If someone asks a question that needs to be answered, I will post an Author's Codex to answer those questions. So Please Read and Review and wait for more! Here's the first Codex!)

Author's Codex

Although known as the Hero of Ferelden, Nihlus Amell is also known as Apostate, a maleficarum, friend of High King Duran Aeducan, savior of Kinloch Hold, caretaker of the Dalish, and most importantly, Warden. The Warden, along with the Warden's Maharial, and Alistair, survived the Fall of Ostagar. With the nation of Ferelden in chaos after the death of its king, the Grey Wardens took it upon themselves to not only fight the darkspawn but to also restore the kingdom. He met many companions along with his fellow Wardens; Morrigan the Witch of the Wilds, Leliana the Bard, Zevran the assassin, and Sten the Qunari Vanguard. The Warden was known for gaining allies in Mages, elves, and even the Dwarves themselves. By curing the elves by releasing the werewolves from their curse by Zathrian, he secured the Dalish support. During his adventures in Redcliffe, he met a young apostate child by the name of Connor, a son of Arl Eamon Guerrin. His powers flooding the town, the mage warden led his companions to Kinloch Hold, quickly resolving a recent outbreak of demons and revoking the Rite of Annulment. After saving Connor, the mage took it upon himself to find a cure for the illness that was inflicting the Arl, and illness conceived by his once friend Jowan.

Dealing with Dragon cults, high dragons, and the arrival of a new companion, Shale the Golem, Nihlus returned to Redcliffe and saved the Arl. The Arl gave his support to the Warden, in hopes of uniting the lands away from the new Regent, Loghain, the traitor of Ostagar. The Warden then journeyed to the Frostback Mountains once more, the Warden journeyed into the Deep Roads to get support from the King of Orzammar. But due to the death of the recent king, the Warden journeyed into the political, criminal and eventually the dusty innards of Dwarven society. After dealing with political strife of the two leaders, Bhelen, the youngest son of the king, and Harrowmont, the kings trusted Advisor. The Warden placed his support with Harrowmont, and then journeyed into the Deep Roads. He then met Oghren the berserker, a drunken dwarf who was mighty fine with an axe.

Searching for their Paragon Branka was the easy part. But deciding the fate of Caridin's secrets of the Golems, was tougher. But in the end, Branka was killed and Caridin was freed from his torment. With a crown in hand, they journeyed back to Orzammar. But along the way, they recovered the middle child of the Aeducan king, Duran. After his banishment, he managed to survive an onslaught of Darkspawn and joined up with a large group of the Legion of the Dead. Finding out that Bhelen was trying to grab for power, the mage convinced the Dwarf to return to Orzammar and claim his place. In the Senate Assembly, Bhelen's lies finally came out, and Duran with advisement from Harrowmont, was named High King of Orzammar.

With his allies in hand, the Warden now had Loghain to deal with. After much work and torment, the Warden challenged Loghain at the Landsmeet and defeated him in single combat. Despite many objections, the Warden spared Loghain, making him join the Wardens, and placing Alistair, the rightful successor, and Queen Anora on the throne of Fereldan. Now with Five Wardens, himself, Loghain, Maharial, Alistair, and the Warden Prisoner Riordan, they would combine the armies of Ferelden and march onto the burning city of Denerim, and go on to slay the Archdemon, once and for all. And end the Blight...although not without a cost.