Wrath of Heaven

Samantha Trevelyan POV

"So, what do you think?" Solas blinked slowly, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. "Down here, Chuckles." His eyes darted down, reminded his companion was a dwarf. A strange surface dwarf who had none of the stone sense, and was completely uncaring of how far his people had fallen. "So, what do you think?" What was this dwarf's name again? Var… Varric, that's right. Varric Tethras, a very popular author, companion to the Champion of Kirkwall. Or… so he's picked up, listening to gossip.

"About what?" he asked, turning his attention back to the sky. A hole in the Veil, spirits being dragged through, countless dead… and all his fault. Again. Perhaps they should have called him the God of Mistakes and Unintended Consequences.

"About the girl in the prisons." He instantly knew who was being talked about. A human with golden-brown skin graying from pain and exhaustion, and dark red-hair falling out of her braid as she tossed and turned from nightmares. He had tried to remove the mark entirely from her, to spare her the horrible pain, but he was too weak. He'd need more power. "What do you think?"

"I think… she's as much of a victim as the dead." Or even more so, because she was becoming a scapegoat for something she had no part in. He knew the feeling. "And that our break is over." Shades had spawned, dragged through the pulsing rift. "Ready for another-"

A barrier, however, suddenly wraps around the soldiers, safeguarding them from both the shades and the wall of fire that sparked into life, devouring the enemy left and right. The few who escaped the flames were quickly sniped, arrows falling to the ground as they dissipated.

"My pardon." Solas blinked slowly as someone approached, a woman with looks very identical to the one who bore the Mark. "Might either of you explain to us what is going on?" she asked gently, bowing slightly. "We only just arrived." He glanced over to the side, to see a Qunari and an elf helping the soldiers. 'Only just arrived', and they jumped into the fray without hesitation. These people were… "Ser?"

"Oh, no need for titles," he dismissed, rapidly trying to remember how he was supposed to act for the mask he wore. "I'm not sure we have time for the whole tale, but if an abridged version will suffice…?" After all, there were demons, and he had to contemplate just how much his mistake completely screwed over a human child, and how he was going to save her.

"I shall look forward to asking questions later."

"Then, it's like this…"

It hurt. Oh, Maker, it hurt so much.

I curled into myself, fighting to breath and not cry as I tucked my left hand to my chest. I flinched at the sickly green light, staring at the mark pulsing in my palm. What was this? Why did it hurt? Someone, help me, please?

A clunking sound caught my attention and it reminded me where I was. I was stuck in a dim, dank prison, somewhere near the Temple of Sacred Ashes, because I somehow survived the giant explosion I couldn't even remember.

I pushed myself up as they filed in, bunches of guards with swords and arrows all aimed for me. Their leaders were the ones who held my attention. One was a redhead, wearing a hooded shirt. The other was a Seeker, wearing a glare I thought was permanent. They both eyed me suspiciously and I bristled under their gazes. Falling back on my lessons, I held my head high, back straight, the picture of dignity in the face of pain and dark conditions. Mother would be so proud.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now," the Lady Seeker growled, a hand hovering over her sword. "The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attend is-"

"I know this already," I interrupted coolly. It earned me a fiercer glare, but they already had written me off as 'guilty', ready to execute me. I had nothing to lose. "You'vef been saying it repeatedly since you bound me up in chains." I looked her in the eye., rattling them for emphasis "Shall we go through the same questions again? Yes, everyone is dead. Yes, Divine Justinia was among them. Yes, we're in a bad situation. No, I don't know how I'm alive. No, I don't know what the blighted light on my hand is."

"You're lying!" She lunged for me, but the redheaded woman held her back.

"We need her, Cassandra," the redhead whispered, nudging the Seeker back. With the name, I identified the Seeker easily as Cassandra Pentaghast, Right Hand to the Divine, Hero of Orlais, slayer of dragons. If that was the case, then was the redhead Leliana, a hero of the Blight, the Left Hand to the Divine? How were they alive? Why weren't they at the Conclave? "Do you remember what happened?" Ah, we were going with this question again? "How all this-?"

"I've not remembered anything more than what I told you before," I replied, biting back a wince as the mark pulsed, my hand throbbing. And here I thought I'd never have a pain worse than when Michalis broke my arm in four places on accident. "Something felt off, I went to investigate because of a warning years ago, and then there are little glimpses of running and being chased, and a woman I can't remember the face of reaching for me." I couldn't even remember if I'd been reaching up to her, or if she had been reaching up to me.

"Warning?" I know I mentioned this to the people who questioned me before. "That didn't reach my reports." Oh, that was definitely not my fault.

"Six years ago, I attended Lady Hawke's coronation." Cassandra's eyes narrowed as she listened. She'd been there too, if I recalled correctly. "She told me to 'be wary if you find yourself in a temple' or something." Cassandra and the redhead exchanged looks. "Something about how she said it made the words stay with me. That's all."

"I see…" Cassandra murmured. She nudged the readhead towards the door. "Go to the forward camp, Leliana." So, I had been right. "I will take the prisoner to the rift." I had a name.

Leliana left, and Cassandra knelt down in front of me, undoing the chains and binding my hands with rope. "So, what did happen?" I asked her. She didn't answer. "What is the rift?"

"It…" She sighed, pulling me up. She steadied me as my legs protested. "It will be easier just to show you."

"Very well." Nodding, I let her lead me outside, keeping my eyes forward. The sunlight I had been expected was nowhere in sight as we left the prisons, and the air itself felt heavy. A sound caught my ear and drew my gaze up, and up, and up. My eyes widened as I saw the sickly green light in the sky, the same color as the mark on my hand, pulsing as things rained down. What was…?

"We call it the 'breach'." I looked to Cassandra, and saw her staring at me, watching me closely. "It is a massive rift into the world of demons and spirits."

"You're saying that thing is a hole into the Fade?" Could something in this situation make some sort of sense?

"And it grows larger with each passing hour." Oh, how wonderful! The Veil was unraveling! …How were the mages? Were they okay? "It is not the only rift, just the largest, the first. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave." How did an explosion rip the threads of reality? "Unless we act, it will soon swallow the-"

If she said anything, I didn't hear it. The Breach pulsed and my mark pulsed with it. "Augh…!" I hissed, clenching my jaw to keep from screaming as the feeling of molten knives twisting up my arm dropped me to my knees.

I would have fallen to my side, but Cassandra caught me. "…Each time it expands, so does your Mark." Was that what was going on? "It is killing you." That was such a lovely thing to know. At least I knew I wasn't overreacting! "But it may… also be the key to stopping this." So, that was how it was? They were going to treat me like a criminal, interrogate me repeatedly, lock me up in chains, and then use the thing trying to eat me whole to try and fix this mess?

If this wasn't a situation threatening all of Thedas, I knew exactly where I'd tell them to shove it! But it was, so I had no choice. "Then let us go." My teeth creaked as I locked my jaw, readying myself to stubborn my way through the pain. "If I can help, I shall."

I almost thought I saw her face soften before she abruptly pulled me up. I stared as she undid the bindings, though. Why would she…? "We are taking a side path to the bridge." And she dragged me by the arm after her. I did so adore pretending to be baggage. "The people have decided your guilt. They need it."

"You're saying that as if you've not done the same."

"You are our only suspect. I did not say you were guilty."

"You damn near implied it with the liar comment." Her grip tightened on my arm. "Where are we going? Where is this rift?"

"It isn't far." That told me nothing. "Open the gate!" I peered around her to see we were stepping onto the bridge. "We are heading into the valley." Soldiers lining the walls glared at me viciously as I walked past. I kept myself from reacting. "Can you run?"

"I shall lap you." Again, I almost thought she smiled as we passed through the gates. "Follow the path?" She nodded, her grip on my arm slackening. "Then I shall see you in a bit." I bolted ahead of her easily, dodging barricades and fires with barely a thought. While I would never call myself the fastest, I was proud of my speed. I had trained hard to be able to sprint in heavy armor, after all.

A pain shooting all the way into my skull, however, made me stumble, falling shoulder first into the snow. I gasped in pain, struggling to breath as the pain slowly faded away. I was still horribly dazed as Cassandra caught up, surprisingly gentle hands on my shoulders to pull me up. "The pulses are coming faster," she murmured. "It's growing larger faster." That was bad. "And the larger it grows, the more rifts appear, and the more demons we face." And the only ones with any knowledge on how to actually fight demons were templars and mages, a very small proportion of Thedas.

"How in bloody flames did I survive all of this?" I whispered, voice wobbling. I looked out over the horizon, noticing the flames more clearly, the large crevices of the land standing out sharply. The air was heavy, making it even more of a struggle to breath through the pain, and it carried with it the smell of blood and smoke.

"They say… you stepped out of a Rift." Oh. No wonder everyone was looking at me harshly. The Chant clearly stated the last time anyone did was were the Tevinter magisters of old, who tainted the Golden City. "You fell unconscious shortly afterwards." She watched me closely. "I was also told a woman was in the Rift behind you, which matches what little you've told us." Yet there were no answers. "There is another bridge up ahead." She pointed down the path for emphasis, and I nodded as I caught sight of the gates. "There should be some water there for you." I simply nodded again. "Come on."

However, as soon as we hit the bridge, so did a bolt of green light, shot out from the Breach above. It shattered the bridge instantly, and down we fell, hitting the ground hard and rolling to a slow stop.

Was it sad that the pain was actually less than what the blighted mark was doing to me?

Groaning, I pushed myself up, just as another bolt of light hit the ground not far away. As it dissipated, a shadow rose up, twisting into something I had only seen in books. "So, this is what you meant," I murmured, staring at the demon. Which one was it? It might've resembled the pictures of 'despair' demons that Lucina talked to me about?

"Yes," Cassandra confirmed. When I glanced over, I saw she had her weapons palmed, a sword and shield. "Stay behind me!" And, without a trace of fear of hesitation, she charged for the demon.

But as she ran ahead, green light bubbled in the ground, spiking upward as the shadows twisted into more demons. Desperately, I hunted around. There had been soldiers on the bridge. They had to have fallen too. But I saw no helpful people, only freshly bleeding corpses, and weapons. My eyes fell on a greatsword, and I lunged for it, grinning as I hefted it up. It wasn't quite up to my standards, but it would do.

I whirled, jumping up to bring the greatsword down with harsher force, right on the demon's head. My grin widened as I cleaved it in two, watching the blood fly. There was something so satisfying about rending enemies apart.

Another demon, one that had spawned without my knowledge, headed for Cassandra's back. I lunged forward, blocking the strike before quickly countering it, cleaving its head from its shoulders. The sound of someone tugging a sword from flesh told me Cassandra had finished off her target. Yay, we won!

"Aw, that was quick," I laughed, smiling. I turned, however, to find a sword in my face. Andraste's grace, Cassandra! "Last I checked, I wasn't a demon."

"Drop the weapon," Cassandra growled, glaring at me. Ah, yes, I was a suspect. I probably shouldn't have been holding a weapon. "Now."

"Fine, fine." I let it fall, holding my hands up. I was still in a great mood. It might've been a short fight, but it got the blood pumping! "My apologies for not wanting to become demon food."

"…No, you're right." She sighed, bringing the sword down. I just stared at her, startled by admitting she was wrong. "The situation has become far too dangerous. I cannot protect you." She nodded at my dropped weapon. "Odd for a noblewoman to wield a greatsword." There was no way I was telling her I took it up because the Queen of Fereldan used one. She'd probably laugh at me being a bit of a hero-worshipper. "Pick it up and follow me. We've still a ways to walk."

"Yes, ma'am." Maker, give me patience.

"We're close to the Rift."

"Is that why we're hearing bunches of screaming and seeing a green glow twisting the air?"

"Yes. We must hurry."

"I'm not the one who is constantly playing catch up." She actually pushed my head for that one! "So, soldiers of yours?"

"Some." She sighed. "Let's get going." I shrugged, hefted my greatsword, and jumped down from the little cliff we were on. "NOT LIKE THAT!" Why did she think I'd care when I had already done it? It wasn't like you could go back in time.

I grinned as my greatsword bit into the first demon, loving the feel, the jolt. Wars were horrific things, but battles? Battles were invigorating. Killing was wrong, horrible, but fighting was fun. The chaotic mess of bloody flying, people shouting, the crashing sound of metal on metal, the distinct 'shink' of a blade slicing through… it was invigorating. And, with this damn mark slowly killing me, I intended on enjoying myself as much as I could. Surely, the Maker would forgive me. He let the mark appear anyway.

I focused completely on the enemy in front of me, the blood rushing through my veins, the exhilaration flooding my head. That I didn't hurt was a bonus I'd not expected, but reveled in anyway. Each swing of my sword slaughtered a demon, letting the fighting soldiers fall back to lick their wounds, and I felt no pain. I actually dreaded the fight's end as the last demon fell. How long did I have before I started hurting again?

"Quickly!" Someone snagged my hand and yanked me off balance. I tried to figure out who, but all I got was 'elf who was much broader than most elves I had seen and completely bald'. "Before more come through!" Whoever they were, they held my hand up to the rift.

I bit back a scream as my arm burned, light shooting out of my palm and into the rift itself. I couldn't breath as it pulsed through me, tears pricking my eyes.

Then suddenly it was gone, both the pain and the rift. As the wisps evaporated, I could only stare, hand falling to my side. I… what… Maker's mercy, what just happened?!

"It seems my theory is correct, Cassandra." And the bald elf was completely nonchalant about this. How wonderful. "The Mark can, in fact, seal with rifts." I was so pleased to… well, I supposed I was actually pleased it worked. I'd like more of an explanation of what this stupid thing was! "It seems, miss, that you hold the key to our salvation."

"Yay," I deadpanned. It earned me a snicker from the bald elf, and a glare from Cassandra, who'd somehow ended up near us. "So, mind explaining what… just…" The words faded away, however, when I caught sight of someone in the crowd of injures soldiers, someone I knew so well. Golden-brown skin a paler shade than mine, hair the same dark red as mine that was worn just as long… she could only be…! "Lucina!" She whirled immediately, face lighting up in a bright smile. She bolted for me immediately, throwing her arms around me as I caught her in a hug, barely holding back a sob. "You're alive…" She was alive. She hadn't died to a templar blade yet. She hadn't died in the explosion. My precious baby sister was alive. "Oh, thank the Maker…"

"Are you two twins?" And Cassandra came in to ruin the moment. Lucina pulled away from me, eyes automatically going to the symbol on Cassandra's armor before focusing on her face. "You two look… remarkably alike," she continued, eyes narrowed. I thought she was glaring, until I noticed her eyes darting between Lucina and I. Was she studying us? "There is a difference in your eyes, but I can't…" Ah!

"You are neither the first nor last, Lady Seeker," Lucina replied, smile warm, voice polite. "Samantha's eyes are a bluish-green. My own, however, are blue, with centralized heterochromia."

"Giving the illusion that your eyes are the same color because the central portion is green." Cassandra nodded, crouching a bit to look Lucina directly in the face. "Yes, I see it now." She straightened, smiling slightly. And here I thought she was incapable of smiling. "We haven't met. I am Cassandra Pentaghast."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Seeker Pentaghast." Lucina bowed a little. "I am Lucina Trevelyan, Samantha's younger sister." Cassandra's eyes automatically darted to the tops of our heads, and I sighed at the familiar sight. "Yes, I am both younger and taller."

"I'm the shortest of the five of us, even though I'm second oldest!" I complained, falling into the old rhythm. Well, I was second-oldest only by a few minutes, since Michalis and I were actually twins, but my point stood. I was only taller than Lucina when I wore heels, assuming she wasn't wearing any! "It's not fair!"

"Wow, Lucy, your sister is whiny." I bristled at the unknown voice, glaring at the speaker. An elf with sepia-brown skin and black lines tattooing her face with branch-like markings, she matched my glare without a care. "Deidre, of Clan Lavellan," she greeted tartly, one hand gripping her bow, and the other fiddling with the arrows in her quiver. "I'd say 'pleasure', but I don't lie." Little…!

"Let's not pick fights, please." I had to work hard to not gape at the grey Qunari who stepped up. He was taller than anyone here, and even broader than Cassandra and me. "Forgive me, but I think we have enough trouble," he murmured. I tried not to stare at the curled horns, like a ram's, and instead focused on how he wore his white hair long and loose. "It is nice to meet you, Miss Samantha, Miss Pentaghast." He bowed a little. "I am Kost Adaar, a squad-leader for the Valo-Kas mercenaries. Since it will come up in this trying situation, I am also a mage." He… he was a mage? But he was built like… was that just a thing with Qunari? They were all built like brickhouses, like elves tended to be lithe and willowy? "I met Lucina on the road and traveled with her." Aaaahhhh. "We met Deidre on the way." I think I would've preferred if they hadn't. At least I could've delayed meeting her.

"And came here to help make sure we weren't ass-deep in demons forever." It took me a bit of looking before I thought to look down at the dwarf with an unusual looking crossbow. "Varric Tethras," he greeted, bowing a little. My mind blanked at the thought of me actually meeting one of my favorite authors. "Rogue, storyteller, and occasionally, unwelcome tagalong." He also winked at Cassandra, making her scowl. I liked him! "We can talk more in the valley, of course."

"Absolutely not," Cassandra snapped. She sighed, stepping forward. "Your help is appreciated, but-"

"Lady, have you been in the valley lately?" Deidre asked dryly, stepping into the conversation. "Got more corpses than soldiers down there, and not all of them soldiers. Like it or not, your army is losing, and you need help." Cassandra sighed, aggravated. "I don't like helping shemlen any better than you wanting my help, but-"

"Deidre, please…" Kost sighed. Deidre snapped her jaw shut with a clack. "Miss Pentaghast, you do need our assistance. I am a mercenary, already hired to serve as security. Despite the Conclave's destruction, the contract still holds." That… was some loyalty. "Deidre is able to traverse the snow with greater ease than any of us, Varric's crossbow allows him to fire at a faster rate than expected, and Lucina has the ability to heal." Kost smiled at bald elf. "I'm afraid I do not know your abilities, Master Solas, other than you are an exceptional mage, especially for being self-trained."

"Cassandra already knows what I can do," the bald elf laughed, clearly amused. I thought there was some confusion in his eyes, though. "I am knowledgeable on the Fade and have formed some theories." He nodded to me. "Ah, yes, I am Solas, since we are doing introductions. I'm pleased to see you still live." Uh…

"He means 'I kept that thing on your hand from killing you'," Varric 'translated' for me. He was grinning, and the fact that Cassandra had stomped away made me think the argument was over, with her loss. "Somehow."

"My travels allowed me to learn much of the Fade." He shrugged, smiling slightly. "Far beyond the experience of any Circle mage, though I will concede Lucina's talks of alchemy greatly exceed my knowledge." I beamed at Lucina, proud enough of her to ignore Solas's little bit of arrogance. She smiled back, shyly ducking her head. "That said, the magic involved here is immense, outside of my knowledge. I do not know how someone with only magical potential could possible have done anything like this." He addressed that last sentence to Cassandra. "I do not even know how someone with magic could do this."

"Understood," Cassandra replied. The word was neutral, but she did glance at me and I thought her eyes were no longer quite as suspicious. "We must make for the forward camp."

"The road ahead is blocked," Deidre stated. She easily leapt onto the wall, pointing down. "We'll have to go that way. Providing Samantha there can walk with the clunking armor." That little…!

"Thank you kindly for worrying about my sister, Deidre, but I assure you, she shall be fine," Lucina replied sweetly. Deidre only nodded and jumped down from the wall, dropping out of view. The others followed her slowly. "Samantha?" I turned to her and she gently cupped my left hand, frowning in thought. Oh, she wasn't…!

"Don't…!" I began to protest. But her fingertips fell on the mark, completely unafraid. I breathed a sigh of relief in that it didn't hurt her.

"It generates its own magical field," she murmured, studying in. "It's actually rather fascinating, though I'd rather it be as far away from you as possible." That made two of us. "Might I study it more later?" And there was the sparkle I remembered preceding every one of her little experiments. "Please?"

"So long as you follow the same terms as always, I'm okay with that." She smiled sweetly, and I relaxed at the tiny bit of normalcy. Now we just needed our brothers here to drive us up the wall before Lucina had to return to the Circle. Then again, Lucina had no Circle to return to anymore.

"Study?" And that was Cassandra. "Same terms?" she repeated, frowning. "What is…?"

"As Solas said, I studied alchemy in the Circle, Seeker Pentaghast, as well as bounded fields," Lucina explained demurely, ducking her head shyly as her hands clasped behind her back. "I simply thought perhaps I could study the mark and extrapolate from there."

"There are some books in Haven. Not a lot, but perhaps they might interest you." Okay, keep this up, Cassandra, and I might just like you. "But you are being left behind." Fine, fine.

Sighing, I followed her, Lucina keeping pace at my side. I frowned at her wearing armor. It really didn't suit her. She most liked lounging in libraries or crouching over an experiment. Of course, I should be happy she thought to wear armor, since many mages went without, but I still didn't like she was in a situation where she had to wear some.

As we walked, though, Varric fell back, sticking to my side despite his shorter legs. I automatically slowed to accommodate him, letting Lucina go ahead. "So, are you innocent?" he asked me as soon as she was out of earshot. While his tone was jovial, his eyes were serious. I had a feeling that if I was guilty, I'd be on the wrong end of that crossbow.

"I want to think so," I whispered to him. I glanced to make sure Cassandra wasn't listening in. "I don't remember anything, though." And the fact that I was marked by this magic made me wonder if I'd done something on accident.

"That'll get you every time." He patted my arm reassuringly, smiling softly. "Should've spun a story. It's more believable! And less prone to premature death." I laughed a little. "Keep the smile on. It'll make you feel better."

"I shall try." I made the mistake of looking to the side, and grimaced at the corpse half ripped apart, sprawled out like a discarded ragdoll. "You know… I'd hoped this Conclave would work too. I've family on both sides." Michalis and Jakob were templars, Lucina was in the Circle, and that was just the immediate family. When you factored in cousins… "The family tree lost a lot of branches, shall we say?"

"Yeah, my circle of friends got smaller." He sighed, and I glanced down at him in time to see him shake his head. "Damn it, Blondie." I wanted to ask, but I bit my tongue. "I hate fighting."

"I hate wars." He nodded, accepting the difference easily. I was glad for that. "So, for lighter topics, is it all right for me to ask-"

"Another rift!" At Deidre's shouting, I glanced down at my hand. It burned. "Blocking the gate!" Of course, it was. Nothing today was convenient. "Lucy, what do you guys call the red blobby demons?"

"They are rage demons!" Lucina called back, cupping her hand around her mouth to pitch it farther. I focused on the path ahead to see we were coming up on another bridge, Deidre up in a tree, while the rest walked to catch up. "They are weak to ice, typically!"

"Well, better get to icing fast! The soldiers are being overwhelmed!" Was it bad that didn't surprise me anymore?

After sharing a look, Varric and I ran to catch up, me pulling ahead easily. The others had the same idea, so it took a bit to reach them on the bridge. And, hovering just overhead, was the rift. Though the others threw themselves into the fray, I glanced at my hand. Solas had used it to seal the rift. Logically, I could do it myself, yes?

A gentle hand fell on my shoulder, and I looked up to see it was Kost, watching me curiously. "…Keep them off me?" I requested, too scared to explain and too prideful to admit it. Kost nodded, eyes strong and stance sure, hopefully guessing what I was going to do.

"Leave this to us," he murmured. He gestured and a gentle blue light wrapped around me. "A barrier, to keep you safe."

"My deepest thanks." I bowed a little to him and walked to the rift, waving through the fighting to stand right in front of the rift itself. I took a breath and held my hand up. The mark pulsed immediately, light bursting from my palm. I grit my teeth against the pain, bloodying my lip as I glared at the rift. I would not let it beat me. I would not.

It suddenly burst, making me stagger back. I nearly groaned when I saw it was still there. Why? This stupid thing was supposed to-

"It's partially closed!" Solas yelled. I glanced at him and he nodded at me. "The backlash hurt the demons! When you see it convulse again, go for it! It has to be closed in stages, like weaving a tapestry together!"

I nodded, took a breath, and watched the rift. The second it condensed, I had my hand up again, locking my knees to keep from falling as the pain flooded me. These stupid… blighted…!

This time when it 'burst', I went with the motion, swinging my arm back to accommodate the momentum. I panted, watching the last wisps of it fade away. I did it.

"…Here." A cloth appeared in my face and when I took it, I saw it was Deidre. "You look stupid with blood going down your chin," she informed me. I glowered at her. "Use that. You can wipe your own face, right?" Maker, I was going to hit her!

"Are you all right, Samantha?" Lucina asked, coming up to me. I delayed my answer by blotting the blood off, running my tongue over my lip to check the scabbing. "Samantha?"

"I'm mad I missed the fight," I decided to complain. It was better than admitting to her how much everything throbbed. I was her big sister, after all. I needed to be strong. "It must've been fun."

"I am afraid we must disagree on that." She gave me a dirty look and I laughed. "Well, you must be fine if you're focusing on something like that." I was glad I lied. "Shall we follow the others? The gates have opened." So they had.

"Yeah, let's go." Smiling, we jogged to catch up. None of us bothered to stop to talk to the staring soldiers, instead focusing on the two people arguing in front of a tent. I recognized one as Leliana. I didn't know the other man at all, but assuming he had to be of the Chantry, given his clothes.

He noticed us first, and leveled a glare at us. "Ah, here they come," he greeted with a growl. Mister, I had no idea who you were, but if you were arguing with Leliana, I was either going to very much like you or very much hate you. I suspected the latter. "How marvelous."

"You made it…!" Leliana breathed, smiling sweetly at us. She visibly relaxed in relief before straightened again, turning to the man. "Chancellor Roderick." Wait, wasn't Roderick the person who Michalis 'accidentally' dumped wine on three years ago? Uh oh. "This is…"

"I know who she is." He glared right at me, and I hoped very much he wouldn't notice the resemblance between Michalis and me. I somehow doubted he'd forgotten the incident. "As High Chancellor, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux." Pardon? "To face execution."

"Wow, a shemlen throwing their weight around," Deidre immediately deadpanned. I snickered as her eyes narrowed, clearly not amused. "Excuse me while I cover my considerable surprise." She waved at Roderick. "Hi, I'm assuming that wasn't to me. I don't even know what a High Chancellor is."

"A glorified clerk," Cassandra growled, stepping up. It was actually fun to watch her glare, when you weren't the victim. "A bureaucrat." She spat out the word like a curse. "Do you truly think you can order me?" Was she going to hit him over the head? Please say 'yes'. I wanted to see that.

"And you are a thug," Roderick retorted without pause. Leliana placed a hand on Cassandra's arm, likely to prevent her from lunging. "But a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry."

I winced as my arm burned. Everything hurt. "There's a hole in the sky, and you want to talk executions?" I asked, incredulously. I thought I saw Solas give me an approving look. "Talk later, we-"

"You brought this on us in the first-!"

"I wasn't done talking, Chancellor." I glared, lifting my head a little to put more emphasis in it. "Divine Justinia is dead, but you cannot tell me she would not focus more on reducing the threat to the world she loved. You are of the Chantry, in the service of the Maker. Act like it."

"Tch…" He flinched back, before focusing on Cassandra. "Call a retreat, Seeker." Could I hit him in the head? "This battle is hopeless."

"We can still stop this," Cassandra countered firmly. She held herself tall, proud. "We must get to the temple. Forward is the fastest route."

"But not the safest," Leliana stated. Both of them ignored the Chancellor's attempts to interject. "Our forces could charge as a distraction, while we go through the mountains. It's longer, but safer."

Cassandra shook her head. "We lost an entire scouting party there. Far too risky."

"Would you two stop being stubborn?" Roderick snapped. They both glared at him. "It's too late. You're just wasting their lives." Okay. The thing in the sky was getting bigger, and everything hurt, so…

"Mind if I make the decision?" I asked. All of them looked at me. "I'm the one with the blighted thing you all want to use." Roderick looked ready to yell, but Leliana covered his mouth with her hand. Cassandra simply nodded, calm. "So, my opinion is…" I trailed off in a hiss as the damn thing pulsed again. "My opinion is that I'm not going to survive taking the long way, much less the trip to trial and execution." I clenched my fist, bit the inside of my mouth hard enough to bleed again to keep from whimpering at the waves of pain. I… I really didn't have long. Andraste, guide me. "We're going forward. Now."

Maker, will you not have mercy on your children?

Author's Note: Welcome to Inquisitions' Tale. All chapters will begin with an NPC scene, with some focus on the POV char for the chapter. There are four POVs this time, unlike the two in Wardens' and the one is Champion's. This is the first, our Herald, Samantha Trevelyan, who cameod in Champion's Tale earlier. She's twenty-five years old now. (Due to the true nature of the Mark, I decided to have only one have it. I've plans for the others, no worries.)

While I'll try and keep information discovered in Trespasser to a minimum for now, everything in the main game is fair play. (Speaking of Trespasser, yes, I am doing DLC. Trespasser itself will be its own, separate story, due to the time skip, much like how I did Awakening)

Next Chapter – Temple of Sacred Ashes with Lucina