Disclaimer: Dragon Age II belongs to Bioware. This is just a love letter to the series.

The highway was hazy in front of me, wavering in the heat. I couldn't believe I'd just driven through seventy miles of rain. The sun was mocking me. As soon as I got to my parents house, it would to rain again.

I sighed. Just an average spring break in Texas. Weather inconsistent, college and grade school breaks don't coincide, and the state was still too. Damn. Big. I had, at the least, two hundred more miles until I reached my parents' house. Damn my need to go to a good university. Except not really.

I loved my school, and I was ever grateful to have met my friends and roommate. Of course, she wasn't taking the trip with me. Ellen didn't want to visit her mother, and the rest of her family was states away, all along the west coast.

So she stayed behind for work, as well as some quality time with Dragon Age games, and I drove alone, as per usual. Though the drive itself wasn't usually bad, with my music in the background, the heat waves rising from the road were getting frustrating. Could it even be that hot with storm clouds nearby? The road ahead was wavering so much, I started to worry about staying in the right lane. The waves built up, gaining intensity until I pushed on my breaks. What was going on? I reached for my a/c, but found the waves obscuring my vision inside the car as well. I screeched to a halt, foot plastered to the brake, and closed my eyes as my body whipped forward; but I wasn't stopped by the seatbelt. I just kept going, feeling like I should have hit the windshield by now.

I thought I heard someone call my name, surprised and concerned. I tried to open my eyes against the now bright light, but a harsh impact to my back changed my mind. With my lungs empty, I focused on breathing. Ow. I had definitely landed outside the car. The rocks between my shoulder blades told me so. I flexed my fingers a couple times, then wiggled my feet. Didn't think my spine had broken.

When I opened my eyes, a blue sky greeted me, fluffy clouds partially blotted out by smoke. Was my car on fire? I fervently hoped not, though the nearby sounds didn't instill confidence. Better get moving then, before it exploded. Dammit.

I slowly eased my way up, turning to my side. My back was going to have some nice bruising. After pushing up onto my knees, I clambered to my feet, blinking when I realized the landscape had changed. Instead of sprawling, open fields of grass with an asphalt road, I stood on a dirt path winding along on a cliff side dotted with rocks. Down below, in the distance, a small village was being set on fire, swarming with oddly shaped, humanoid creatures.

Even from here, I could hear the screams. I looked around frantically, but no paved road appeared, and my car was nowhere to be seen. Then, just up the ridge, I saw some of the monsters which were decimating the village. I knew them from my roommate's newest gaming obsession. Darkspawn.

I could feel the blood drain from my face as they scrabbled over rocks towards me. Their skin was corpse grey, scarred, and looked infected; It stretched tightly over their skulls, clearly displaying their yellowed teeth and milky eyes. However, their equipment was what truly terrified me. Just like the ones in the games they crawled out of, they wore dark armor. Only three, but each one-each hurlock, as they were human sized-carried a bloodied sword. They screeched, turning to look straight at me, and I finally moved.

I sprinted off in the opposite direction, not thinking, just pushing faster. Faster. Somewhere in my mind, I was glad I always wore athletic shoes. The thick smell of iron assaulted my nose from others who tried to run, dead on the rocks. I heard a snarl just behind me and the whooshing of an object being sliced through the air. I instantly forgot the smell and opened my mouth wider, inhaling desperately as I increased my speed.

My strides stretched each leg as far as it could go before impacting the earth again. My muscles screamed in desperation, and my arms pumped in short bursts to help build even more momentum. Inside my head was nothing but screams and white noise, so of course I never saw the person I tripped over. I just landed face first on the ground, arms barely absorbing the impact, trembling and out of breath. A quick turn of my head told me the person I was partially laying on was a corpse.

I heard some shouts along the lines of "Are you trying to get killed?" but the growls of the hurlocks got me scrambling to my feet. A hand on my arm startled me, and I swung around, hand fisted to punch, but the calm blue eyes staring at me-human, alive-made me stop.

"You're safe." I was?

Sounds of swords clashing and thumps on the ground met my ears. Though my legs were still shaking, I turned further to see the battle happening behind me.

Two hurlocks were on the ground, dark blood spattered around them. The third swiped at a muscular man, but the shorter woman fighting with him tossed a fireball at the creature, wreathing it in flame. Sufficiently distracted, it never saw the sword the man plunged into its chest. A final whack from the woman's fire-enhanced staff had it fall to the ground, lifeless.

I just stood, staring, waiting. Surely everything would make sense. Like, I'd wake up from a dream. The man stomped over to me, closely followed by the fire mage. They looked alike enough to be relatives. They had the same dark hair color and curved lip shape.

"What's wrong with you?" the man demanded. "Look, we're all trying to run, but if you don't pay attention to your surroundings-" His voice blurred out as the ringing in my head reached a crescendo.

The smell of burning flesh and blood seeped into my nose and throat, building a pressure behind my eyes. I turned and stumbled a few steps towards a boulder, realizing the woman who tried to calm me down still had her hand supporting my shoulder. I tightened my low ponytail before bending over with a steadying hand on the rock. Tears slipped from my stinging eyes as I retched, my stomach muscles convulsing enough to make me gasp out pleas whenever I could breathe. I felt the hand rubbing circles on my back as I reached the end of my episode. I sniffed some of the snot away, and attempted to spit some of the acid taste from my mouth.

"Don't overdo it." I turned to get a good look at the woman aiding me.

Blue eyes, short black hair, an expression which somehow managed to be both sympathetic and alert, ready for another attack. She looked vaguely like someone I should recognize, except I don't know people who wear armor. I moistened my lips.

"Who...? Um, what... is it over? Is-" My thoughts scrambled; I couldn't decide what I should be asking about. What took priority?

"Those darkspawn are dead, but we have to keep moving if we want to outrun the horde," the man answered.

The blue eyed woman looked briefly like she wanted to ask after my health, but her mouth flattened in determination.

"You'll make it," she commanded, "Keep going."

Yes, yes if I could just escape, leave this carnage behind, I could think properly. I wiped my face with the backs of my hands and nodded.

"Good. This is my mother, Leandra. Stay with her." An older woman I hadn't noticed smiled gently and put an arm around my shoulders.

I felt something bump my leg and turned my head to see a large dog sniffing me, his head even with my stomach. He looked up and gave me a confused whine. The young woman smiled.

"And this handsome rascal is Calenhad."

My automatic reaction for meeting animals kicked in, and I slowly leaned over. With the same gentleness, I extended my hand, lightly curled, for him to smell.

"Hey boy," I said, voice quiet and rough, "How are you?"

He gave me a small happy bark, and I felt a hint of a smile on my face.

"Yeah, me, too."

"We're taking her?" I heard the man question, though he was clearly just waiting for a judgement from the leader.

She nodded decisively.

He just sighed and looked down at me with darker blue eyes. "I'm Carver."

"Bethany," the mage introduced, "I'm his twin." She kept giving me searching looks, though I wasn't sure why. My head was still spinning.

Finally, the leader said, "And I'm the older sister to these two, Marian Hawke."

...Hawke. Like Champion of Kirkwall, killer of high dragons, and main character of the GAME, Hawke? I was suddenly glad I was still squatting close to the ground.

Calenhad, the sweetie, noticed my distress and rubbed against my shoulder. My hands scratched through his short, tan fur and ended at his shoulder wrinkles, needing something to hold on to.

With a firm clamp down on the hysterical laughter shaking my chest, I managed a nervous smile. "Sabrina. I'm, ah, grateful. Thank you."

Running was good. Actually, we were moving at more of a light jog-paced, meant for long distances. However, even with my year of prior experience in cross country, and knowledge constantly spouted by my more competitive sister, the run was hard. That meant I had to concentrate on breathing, which stopped any possible sobs. There was just more smoke, more darkspawn, more blood.

They never stopped shrieking, even as they died, slaughtered on the cliff side. We took short breaks after each fight, both to give the fighters a chance to regain their stamina, and so the non-fighters, Leandra and I, wouldn't collapse. At least I didn't have to worry about slowing them down. Our breaks were more like a few moments standing still to catch our breath, anyway. I wanted to spend more time with the cute mabari hound, but he was our best scout, so he wasn't around much except when battling to protect Leandra.

The older woman didn't talk to me much, even during breaks. She just put her hand on my shoulder, supportive, before checking on her children. It was a small comfort, but it helped.

During one of these breaks, Bethany voiced an obvious concern. "Where are we going?"

"Away from the darkspawn, where else?" Carver made it sound like such an obvious answer, but I sympathized with his sister.

"We can't run forever," I said softly. We needed a safe place. I needed a safe place. Why wasn't I home?

"She's right," Bethany agreed, "Even then, we can't just wander, aimlessly."

Older-sister-Hawke looked at all of us before shaking her head. "We stay alive. That's all we need to worry about right now."

Everyone sobered at the sentiment, making me wish I could give them some hope. I knew where we, no, they would end up eventually, I just couldn't remember who needed to have the initial idea.

"We could go to Kirkwall." Oh, right. It was... wait, what was the mother's name again?

Hawke raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. "Well, that wouldn't be my first choice."

"There are a lot of templars in Kirkwall, mother..." Bethany sounded just as skeptical.

"I know that, but we still have family there," the older woman insisted, "And an estate."

Her children looked less dubious about the idea upon hearing that. Even so, they hesitated. Hawke and Bethany shared a look before the youngest spoke up.

"We'll have to head to Gwaren and take ship."

"If we survive that long," Carver said, "And what about her?"

I started a bit when he gestured to me. Well, I wouldn't be around much longer. I was sure I'd fall back through a portal to my world any minute. Until then though, I didn't want to die.

"I'll come." I cleared my throat and spoke louder. "I-I don't have any family here, anyway. And I don't know where to look now."

"You're welcome to come," Bethany said. She was giving me a kinder smile than I'd seen from her yet. Maybe having a destination made her feel better?

Hawke nodded her assent. "Let's get going then. It's a long trip, and the darkspawn won't exactly give us a head start."

Carver was already turning to jog. "I'll just be happy to get out of here."

A minute later, around yet another bend in the trail we followed, we heard more darkspawn. The only difference was, it sounded like they were already fighting. Turning the corner, we came across two people who, frankly, looked like knights.

Both stood with swords, hacking at the group of darkspawn, fervently protecting each others backs. The man stood slightly taller than the woman, with his black hair singed and covered in dirt. The red-headed woman was speckled with so much blood, it was hard to tell if the freckles across her face were just my imagination. Aside from her ponytail, she had a leather band tied around her forehead in an attempt to keep loose hair out of her face. Their armor was scratched and filthy, but my only thought was, she looks like a valkyrie.

Suddenly, I recognized her. She was Aveline, one of Hawke's companions. And her husband was still alive...

Not a second after we noticed them, the man was struck from the back, causing him to cry out and drop his shield. When he faltered, Aveline gained a fierce determination, killing several darkspawn around her before shoving the offending creature to the ground, punching it with her bare hands. She then picked up her fallen weapon, yelling "You will not have him!" as she chopped off its head, sword like a guillotine. After grabbing her husband's shield, she immediately went to his side, helping him stand while whispering in his ear.

"Stay here," Hawke ordered, as though she thought I'd suddenly decide to tackle a horrible creature for myself. Oh, wait, she was talking to her dog.

She and her siblings rushed to aide the strangers against the darkspawn. Aveline and her husband noticed their arrival and changed tactics. The wounded man was quickly set aside, and the other fighters formed a defensive wall in front of him. I was in awe of the battle prowess they all showed. When a darkspawn charged at Aveline, she pushed back with the shield in her left hand. Off balance, it would quickly succumb to the bite of her blade. Bethany was providing backup, making sure the group kept their distance from her mother and I. Carver swung his two-handed blade in wide arcs, getting into a rhythm with his older sister.

Those two were a dervish as they slaughtered through the ranks, corpses falling to the earth in their wake. Weren't they in the army or something? My brain was too frazzled to remember exactly, but I was sure they were trained. I could tell. They never hesitated and were obviously used to each others presence in combat. Several minutes later, the small band of darkspawn was dead. Everyone wiped off and sheathed their weapons, though with caution.

Aveline was helping her husband up when he stumbled, a dirty glare on his face. What? Oh. I followed his line of sight to Bethany. Right, rogue magic users were thought dangerous, especially by those like this man, who was duty bound to track them down.

"You have a mage in your group," the man stated. He looked clearly worse for wear, favoring one side, his armor covered in blood and dirt. "Keep your distance apostate."

"Oh good, a templar," Bethany said, thick with sarcasm. "Well, the Maker has a sense of humor. It's not enough that we have to deal with darkspawn."

He made a face at her comment, or maybe he felt pain since he had lifted a hand to point at her. "The 'spawn are clear in their intent, but a mage is always unknown. These may be dark times, but the laws of the Chantry are clear."

Honestly, I was more worried about flesh-eating monsters spreading across the land than a lone mage running with family. What was it with religious lawmen in RPGs?

"You're welcome, by the way." Hawke moved further in front of Bethany, arms crossed. Growling lowly, Calenhad moved further forward, backing up Hawke's sentiment.

"The order dictates..." The templar paused for breath, looking paler.

"Wesley." Aveline stepped up beside him, placing an arm on his shoulder. Probably more to steady him than hold him back.

"That woman is an apostate," he argued.

"Dear, they saved us. The Maker understands." Her voice was calm and clear. I couldn't detect any sign of strain from her earlier fight. Damn, she's good. "I'm Aveline Vallen, and this is my husband, Ser Wesley. Thank you for your help."

"It wasn't a problem," Carver spoke up, "But we should get moving."

"Yes," she agreed, "We can hate each other when we're safe from the horde."

A quick glance at her husband got a meek, "Of course."

"You're quick to offer your allegiance." Hawke still stood with arms crossed, protective.

"Another blade between us and the darkspawn?" Carver said, "Yes please." Bethany shot him a glare; I was ready to side with her brother, but Ser Wesley spoke up first.

"My duty is clear... but that is for another day. Should we survive that long."

"We will be fine," Aveline commanded, "We all will."

I instantly understood how Hawke and Aveline could become such close friends. They had the same kindness and determination about them. It seemed Hawke saw it too, as her position softened, and she lowered her arms before speaking again.

"For a while it looked like we were the only ones to escape the darkspawn."

"I thought the templars abandoned Lothering, with the Chantry priests," Bethany added.

Lothering. The town I had seen burning in the distance. How many people had the Chantry left behind? All those screams... I shook my head. My dreams had never been so detailed-or chronological, if I'm honest-but this just couldn't be real.

Despite the look of distaste, Ser Wesley answered. "I was traveling to Denerim on business for the order. But when I heard about Ostagar..." he glanced at his wife, "I had to turn south."

"Bad luck-and judgement-," She was clearly returning his look with a soft glare, "Brought us together here before the attack."

I had been distracted by hearing game lines spewed before me by, maybe, real people, but Wesley just said something strange. How did he hear about Ostagar so soon? The darkspawn had overrun the southern fortress within one night, as far as I remembered. How long did it take the darkspawn to get here? Perhaps their army traveled slower than I first thought.

"Well, we aren't free of the darkspawn yet," Carver interjected. "Just like at Ostagar, this is only the start."

Oh, so these were just scouts. Fan. Tastic.

"You were there?" Aveline seemed to look at the Hawkes more thoroughly. "Yes, I see it now. Third company, under Captain Varrel."

I was right, thank goodness. I thought I was going crazy. So Carver and, erm, Hawke had been part of the army. Now if only I could recall everyone's names. Remembering was so much harder when some were never said in the game. Devita? Sayji? No, my roommate, Ellen, had chosen those.

While I was staring at Hawke, trying desperately to remember her first name, she stepped forward. Whoops, looked like Carver and Aveline finished their conversation.

"You're welcome to join us, provided you keep away from Bethany." The last part was pointedly at Ser Wesley. Hawke's tone was friendly enough, but the steel in her voice was unmistakable.

Aveline had a silent conversation with her husband before turning back to us. "That sounds fine."

"The wrath of the templars is terrible, indeed." I couldn't see, now looking at the back of Hawke's head, but I thought I heard a smile in her voice.

"More so their wives," countered Ser Wesley, glancing again at Aveline, "But so long as there is a greater danger, I will keep our accord."

Everyone seemed satisfied with the arrangement, and Hawke nodded. "How bad is that wound?"

"I think my sword arm's a loss." Ser Wesley looked at us, only one hand able to clench fully. "Even with healing."

"Then you will have mine," Aveline promised, "As always." Her smile dropped as she turned to us.

"For now, we move with you. North is cut off. We barely escaped the main body of the horde," she explained.

"Then... we're trapped!" Carver exclaimed, "The Wilds are to the south, that's no way out!"

I looked to the side and noticed his mother with her hands over her mouth in despair. I couldn't think of how to comfort her, so I did the only thing I could; I placed my own hand on her shoulder. Even though she tried to smile at me, the deep look in her eyes wouldn't go away. I gave one awkward squeeze before removing my hand and looking forward. It was all I could do at this point. And wasn't that weird? I always had control over my dreams, even the other people in them.

Hawke had stepped forward again, ready to lead the group. "If the options are south or die, I'll take my chances with south."

The Hawkes exchanged names-which was helpful for me-and discussed strategy for a moment before taking up positions. Marian and Calenhad stood in front, Aveline and Wesley behind them, with the Leandra and I safe in the back, the twins taking rear guard.

I supposed Bethany didn't feel comfortable showing Wesley her back. I guess I wouldn't. We continued as before, taking out groups of darkspawn and keeping to a steady jog in-between. Since we had more helping hands, we sometimes scavenged potions from the corpses along our path. When I expressed an interest with my obvious staring, Leandra would point out what each potion was used for. Somewhere along the way, I decided to just think of her by the nickname my roommate and I had used: Mama Hawke.

Having Aveline made the fights easier, even with the Hawke siblings getting used to the change in strategy. The only problem was, the darkspawn just seemed to get more numerous as we went. The next break we had, I remembered why.

Oh god. Carver was still alive. We had to face two large waves of darkspawn in a clearing. And ogres. I started shaking. What could I do?

Mama Hawke survived in game, but who was to say I would, too? Or that it would play out the same? NPCs didn't appear during fights, or became untouchable, so you never had to worry about them. Where could we hide? The darkspawn would come from every direction, and we were going the wrong way. If I could have kicked myself for forgetting that detail, I would have.

Mama Hawke put her hand on my shoulder. "Sabrina?"

I startled to hear my name. It was weird, but I was always surprised when people remembered who I was. Maybe it was because, personally, I almost never remembered people's names, even after just ten minutes of meeting them. Of course, it could be because I was shocked people remembered someone so boring. Or maybe that was my low self-esteem talking.

"Er, yeah?" I answered brilliantly. Mama Hawke frowned.

"How are you holding up?"

She was worried about me? She was the one who had been so worried about our blocked escape routes. What about her three children? One of them was going to die! I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

"I'm alright. Really. I'm keeping up. What about...?" I gestured towards the siblings as they conversed in hushed tones. Her eyes softened as she took them in.

"My children are strong. And they have each other."

A small hysterical giggle burst from my mouth before I closed it, biting my lip. I couldn't help it. She was implying I was all alone. Which I was.

But I couldn't possibly be stuck here. Maybe I'd flown out of my car and now had a concussion. Or maybe I slipped into an alternate dimension, like in the Weird Al song. But I didn't have to live (and die) here. She definitely shouldn't waste time on me.

"It's fine." I took a deep breath and swallowed the lump out of my throat. "Go check on your kids. Seriously. I'm fine."

Mama Hawke stared at me reluctantly. "We'll be alright." She squeezed my shoulder and walked away.

I felt the pressure build behind my eyes, so I started up a calming rhythm with my breaths. A small sob escaped, accompanied by a tear, but I didn't think anyone would judge me for it.

Our break was nearly done, so I walked over to Aveline and Wesley, already in position. They broke off their conversation to greet me.

"I don't believe we were properly introduced." Aveline had a ghost of a smile on her face, though it was genuine.

"Um, Sabrina. I'm-I'm Sabrina," I said lamely.

"Aveline." She held out her hand for a handshake.

All my practice on proper business form sprang to mind, and I immediately took her hand in a firm but polite grip. Her smile grew. We separated before Wesley offered his hand.

"Ser Wesley." We shook and parted the same. The smile on his face dimmed when he spoke again, "If you don't mind my asking, did you get separated from your family? I do apologize, it's just that you don't seem to be related to the Hawkes."

I waved off his apology, though I didn't know how to respond. Don't think about your family. Don't do it.

"It's fine. Just, I mean yeah, no, my family's not here," I stumble over my words, nerves fried.

What could I say? 'Don't worry, my family's back in a safer dimension?' Ha! They'd just think the blight cracked my brain. I did want to be taken seriously, thank you.

"They're, um, safe. They aren't anywhere near here."

He nodded. "That's good to hear."

Why did he care anyway? Not that he was a terrible person, but he didn't have to bother himself by asking me. If darkspawn had killed them, what could he have done?

Aveline had been looking at me intently as I answered, though the approach of the Hawkes took her attention. She mentioned Wesley's deteriorating condition, and he was given a stamina potion we had scavenged from the refugee corpses. Then we were on our way again, slower, but steadily jogging up a small incline. Oh no...

I blanched as the clearing came into view. As soon as we turned a corner and crossed the lower crevasse, we could head up towards the prologue's main deviance. The first death. What could I do? Should I do anything? It was cruel to think, but I didn't want to mess with the game. Or, story? The world? But Carver was more than a possible companion. Wasn't he also a brother, a son? Agh, what to do. My pace slowed as I thought, and suddenly Bethany was striding beside me.

"What's wrong?" She wasn't as tired as I was, but her voice still came out breathy.

"What if you die?" I blurted. She looked as shocked as I felt.

We'd slowed down enough to catch the attention of Mama Hawke and the mabari, Calenhad. He barked impatiently at us. The others in front slowed down, weapons ready until they saw it was just me lagging. How embarrassing.

"Do we need a break?" Hawke asked, all business.

I shook my head, mortified now that we were all standing still at the entrance to the clearing. But... maybe I could warn them? Why had I said that to Bethany? Hawke-no, wait-Marian Hawke was a warrior, clearly. Carver would die. Except it probably wasn't so simple. Bethany was the other option. My thoughts tumbled through my head.

"Look..." I started, then hesitated.

Attentive, they all watched me, but my eyes were for Marian and Carver. They worked so well together. Carver was kind of an ass, from what I'd seen, but his death... it would hit their family so hard. If I could prevent it, I should at least try.

"We don't have all day to lag around. The horde is coming after us, now." Wow thanks Carver, hadn't noticed.

But I could tell the others were also getting impatient. I didn't think I could stand another brash comment; I'd immediately clam up. So when I saw Bethany's mouth start to open, I blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"You!" I pointed at Carver. His startled jump would have been funny if his life weren't on the line. "Big, disgusting creature things. Ogres! Over-" I gestured in the general direction of the now perfectly visible clearing.

I was sure I'd confused most of the party with my random declarations. Marian seemed to have gotten the gist of it though.

"There's Ogres ahead? How would you know that?" She cocked her head and gave me a wry grin. "Don't tell me you've been a Grey Warden all along."

I could tell from the tone of her voice she wasn't serious, but I shook my head regardless. I couldn't explain my random knowledge either. Stupid, stupid Sabrina.

Aveline was giving me the searching look again, and she kept her eyes on me as she spoke.

"Regardless, we should stay aware of our surroundings. Precaution never hurt anyone."

As if proving her right, Calenhad began barking. Our party tensed and drew their weapons again, facing the direction he pointed. We saw a line of hurlock bolters advancing, crossbows already drawn to fire. This alone was enough to put me on edge, but they were closely followed by an emissary, a darkspawn mage. Shit.

This darkspawn was less human-shaped than the others. It looked to be seven feet or taller, gangly arms lengthened by the oversized, claw-like fingers. It wore something like a cross between a mage's robe and a blacksmith's apron, of all things. Mages packed a terrific punch, I knew from the game, but I had also been watching Bethany, and I saw firsthand how much damage a fireball could cause.

"To arms!" Hawke commanded.

Our group quickly got into position, which meant Mama Hawke, Ser Wesley, and I were herded to the side with Bethany watching over us.

Aveline was the first to advance, having the advantage of a shield. She deflected a few bolts before Carver called out, taunting and distracting a good amount of the creatures. This gave Aveline time to quickly advance into their ranks and engage in close-quarters combat, which the bolters were ill suited for.

Hawke herself had taken off with Calenhad at her side, the mabari too fast to pin down, but big enough to be threatening. They quickly caught the attention of the mage. Hawke managed to take out a couple hurlocks in one mighty swing, but the mage was already close enough to begin launching fireballs at her.

Bethany, who had been providing cover fire for Carver, switched to summoning spikes of ice underneath the emissary apprentice. It wasn't as affected as the average darkspawn, but the attacks slowed it down and occasionally froze it, giving Hawke and Calenhad time to dodge behind it and strike.

The whole battle wrapped up in only a few minutes, though it had obviously tired the fighters out. As we all gathered again, I tried to think of a solution to our upcoming ogre problem. It's not like we'd be able to run past it; there were just more and more darkspawn. In the game, it took the efforts of the witch Flemeth, in dragon form, to save the group. I sighed. Maybe I could just call out a warning before anyone died.

"Well, at least it wasn't an ogre," Bethany said, trying to relieve the tension.

"True. But that wasn't the usual group of scouts," Aveline noted. "We'll need to move quickly if we want to avoid any more surprises."

They were both looking at me. Why were they looking at me?

"Then let's get moving." I made a mental note to thank Carver later. ...Oh wait.

A heavy breath pushed through my throat. Carver's-and perhaps Bethany's-dilemma was something I still had no solution for. A warning wouldn't do much good if Carver charged right at it.

Once we were all back in formation, we continued on, my hands clasped together at chest level for comfort, though the scenery wasn't doing my heart any good.

As we walked up the hill, the warrior's swords at the ready, I was watching the progression of decorations along the roadside. Oh god. They got more and more numerous as we made our way to the final clearing. Skulls were speared on stakes in the ground, many standing taller than me. Some skulls looked cleaned off, but others still had chunks of rotting flesh on them. I wanted to hurl again.

Looking away from the sight, I noticed we had reached the top of the hill. We could see a good distance in all directions from here, but it meant we were visible too. The party members looked around, but there were no darkspawn in sight. We inched into the clearing.

We were creeping across the expanse when the ground beneath our feet rumbled. Though faint, everyone tensed. The shakes grew in intensity and frequency until it became obvious they were footsteps. We all turned towards the nearest path as an ogre came into sight.

It was more than twice our size, muscled, with towering horns to set it apart from the other darkspawn. These were the gate-crashers of the horde. It charged straight for our group, so we all sprinted aside to get out of the way. Ser Wesley and I were slower, and so we had to jump, falling to the ground, though it was better than being crushed by two thousand pounds of darkspawn. Then the creature did the worst thing possible.

It turned towards me.

A/N: I feel like I should play that cheesy "What will happen next?" music. Okay, so! A couple little notes here.

First, I've been working on this fic for a while, I'm just super lazy. Yup, I admit it. But, I do have someone to keep me on track, which brings up my second note. This is a (sort-of) companion fic! By which I mean that Evee Solo and I are writing our fics in the same universe, and our actions in each will have consequences on the other. We're pretty excited about the whole thing.

However! I will not force you to read her fic to understand mine. I am writing this as a stand alone, so while it would be really awesome for you to check out One Flip in Ferelden, rest assured, you don't have to. (But we are building the stories together, and I'm pretty excited for what she's doing with DA:O.)

If you have any feedback, critiques, or thoughts, you can review or message me! I may also put some of my social media on my profile, so people can ask questions there, if need be. But this note is way too long now, so laters!