Lyla Hawke thought she had lived an interesting, if short, life. After fleeing the blight, she had lost her sister to an ogre, only to fall the aforementioned ogre with the largest fireball the had ever done. She bargained with the Witch of the Wilds, talked-and fought- her way into Kirkwall. She made her name as a mercenary, along-side her brother and her new friend Aveline. She had met Varric who, in turn, led her to meet Anders. She managed to make her way to the top of Mount Sundermount, and befriend the elf-mage named Merrill. She unsuspectedly helped Fenris, and gained him as yet another friend; ran into Isabella, and dragged Sebastian from his life in the Chantry.
Together, her band of misfits survived the deep roads, rid the city of invading qunari, and secretly (and not-so-secretly) tried to help out the mages. She lost her mother, watched her brother walk away, and invaded an impregnable vault. Lyla became the champion of Kirkwall, and her companions became her family. But all good things end, and everything went sour.
Anders tricked her into blowing up the Chantry. Sebastian stomped away, his arrow in the healer's throat. Fenris joined Meredith. Aveline was killed by a Templar, Merrill was torn to pieces by a Harvester. Those who were left had to face a crazed, lyrium-powered Knight-Commander Meredith.
Hawke watched her friends fall. She threw as many spells as she could, until she found herself laying on the ground with a hole through her stomach; watching as statues came alive and everyone was slain.
And as the world stood still, Meredith was left standing alone in a pool of blood. Hawke could hear someone whimpering nearby, but she could not place who it was. Just inside her vision, she could see the battered form of what once was her brother, his Templar armour caved in at the chest.
Tears gathered in her eyes as her lids slid shut. 'I'm sorry.' She thought; but she wasn't sure why she was apologizing. 'I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.'
Perhaps she was silently apologizing to Meredith in hopes to be spared, or maybe to her kith and kin for leading them to death; or even of the people of Kirkwall she had failed. Hawke couldn't decide before her whole world went dark and she heard the much-missed voice of her mother, calling out to her to wake up.