This fanfic will be from the view point of various characters, but mostly it will be from either my Hawke or Tristan Cousland, my Warden. All other characters belong to Bioware, save for some of the liberties I take.

Prologue

(6 months after the incident at the Gallows)

Aveline walked through the streets of Lowtown, a company of guards following her. There had been reports of fighting in the alienage, and she was going to put a stop to it. In the months following the chaos of the Champion's disappearance, order hadn't been the city's strong point so far. There were riots almost daily, gangs of mage supporters and templar supporters were waging war through the streets of Lowtown, and the Coterie was having a civil war of its own. The only safe place to be was the Gallows or Hightown, and only in the day time. Aveline was reaching the end of her rope. She wanted the constant fighting to cease. And it was her job to make it so.

That's why Aveline, Donnic, and five other guards were walking down the stairs to the elven alienage. Sure enough, the reports were accurate and there were two groups of thugs with shoddy daggers, bows, hand axes, swords, armor. It seemed to be a gang fight, until Donnic spoke.

"See that, love? One of the groups is all elves. Is this a gang fight or an invasion?"

"Smart catch, Donnic." She stepped forward to listen in. One of the humans stepped forward, and one of the elves did the same. They met in the no man's land between the two gangs and eyed each other with pure contempt. The human spoke first.

"Where's the maleficar, knife ear?" he spat angrily.

"Sod off. We don't have your bleedin' maleficar. What do you want a maleficar for anyways?"

"That bitch killed my brother! I want her head!"

"We ain't seen her since the chantry blew up! From what I've heard, she's been buggerin' the Champion! If you want her, go find him!"

"You know that's bullshit! Stop protectin' her or we'll cut you all up!"

"Back your words with some action, shem!"

Aveline stepped foreward, "Stand down!"

The gangs turned toward her. Two of the guards knocked arrows in their draw strings and aimed their bows at the leaders of each gang. The rest drew their swords. Aveline continued, "Lay down your weapons and return to your homes. We are authorized to use deadly force."

"We ain't dyin' for somethin' we didn't start!" the leader of the elves stated bluntly before throwing his dagger to the ground. The rest elves immediately did the same before scattering to their homes.

Some of the humans wavered, then dropped their weapons and fled, but many remained, and the leader stepped forward, despite the bows that were now trained on him.

"Well well, if it isn't the captain of the guard! We were already seeking justice before your lot showed up. Clear off! That maleficar's gonna get what's comin' to her."

"It is against the law to take the law into your own hands. I'll have you jailed for acts of vigilantism."

The man stepped closer, and the others started closing slowly, like a pack of hungry wolves.

"You think you're so high and mighty, wielding the law like a shield. Well, you ain't the real power. The Templars would have fixed these knife ears for us if it weren't for you guard dogs! Why don't you leave town while you still can? The templars are the law of the city!"

Aveline stepped forward, matching the thug's challenge, "I say again, stand down. If you don't drop your weapon right now, I swear to you, I will put you to the sword myself!"

The man spat on Aveline's face, " Curse you, you Ferelden, dog lord bitch! Kill them!" He raised his weapon, but Aveline was too quick for him. A split second later, Aveline's sword had separated the man's head from his shoulders. It did a spiraling arc through the air and fell at the feat of another thug. The thug drew his weapon, but was struck with the guard archers's arrows, one in the throat, one in the sternum. The thug grasped the arrow in his throat and fell, gurgling, blood pouring down his body. The other thugs drew their weapons and charged, and two more took arrows before Aveline, Donnic, and three other guards counter charged into the fray. Blood poured over Aveline's hands and spattered her face as she cut, stabbed, and hacked her way through numerous thugs. Blood sprayed into the air and the hard dirt became soaked with it, so much that the thugs began to slip in it and fall. Every few seconds, a pair of arrow came whistling through the air, striking their targets with deadly accuracy. But there were too many, and soon Aveline, Donnic and the three other guards were surrounding their archers, shields raised in a circular formation.

Aveline swore and turned to Donnic, "Well, I guess this is where we die."

Donnic turned to her and smiled weakly, "Well love, at least we will die together."

Suddenly, as the guards braced for oblivion, a great and terrible noise rang out in everyone's heads, and a dark, menacing voice rang in Aveline's head. She covered her ears, like everyone else, but it spoke in her mind.

"Cease your pitiful struggle, children of the magisters!"