Hey guys, back again,
This chapter is a quite longer than the first, but I had fun writing it


The Road to Skyhold

"Are you going to keep glaring at me? It doesn't make me go any faster" Anders said glancing at the templar watching him warily.

The former Warden stood, still in chains, amid the woods before a bush where he was answering a call of nature.

"Hurry up" the templar said coldly.

The piss went on and on and Anders sighed softly.

He'd been holding that in for hours before his captors had finally set up camp again.

They at least had the decency to let a man piss.

"What's this Skyhold you're taking me too?" Anders asked humming to himself.

The templar said nothing, but Anders could feel the man's glare upon his back.

He knew how templars were, he knew what they expected. A frightened captive, or else a madman, but Anders didn't give them the satisfaction.

He had hummed to himself whilst on the road, it had resulted in a smack to the back of the head more than once.

Still, he never let them affect him.

To the templars, Anders seemed merely bored. And that angered them more than anything else he could have done. It wasn't as easy as one would think to keep up, Anders was still very haggard from his time on the run.

"There, all done" Anders said managing to keep that cheerful yet bored tone.

He zipped up and turned to his captor adding "don't suppose you'll let me wash my hands? Have any soap?"

His answer had been another smack to the head before being hauled back to camp and chained to a tree-stump.

Later that night, Anders began humming again as four of the five templars slept. One stayed awake to keep watch over him.

"Hmm Hm" Anders hummed into the night despite his weariness.

The templar whom stood watch over him shook his head in disgust.

"What the hell is wrong with you" the man muttered as Anders hummed.

More than you think Anders thought.


Crossing the Waking Sea eventually led them back to Kirkwall.

It hadn't been a pleasant experience for Anders, thankfully the templars had kept his identity a secret as they were transporting him to the Gallows to take ship.

Wandering through the streets of his former home, Anders couldn't help but notice the signs of ongoing reconstruction and the wandering militia as well as city guards and templars.

Militia? When did the citizens of Kirkwall form militias? Anders thought.

He thought he saw his old... well they hadn't been friends at the end had they? Regardless, Anders thought he saw Aveline with a squad of her guardsmen patrolling the streets.

She looked like she'd been through a lot recently, a hard frown seemed to have permanently worked its way onto her face, and she looked like she was being overworked.

Anders had stopped in his tracks at the sight of her, he thought about calling out to her but what could he say?

Instead the templars had tugged on his chains and he'd fallen face first into the pavement.

"Keep up" the leader of the templars, Jennifer he'd learned her name was, said hauling him back up.

...

Taking ship from the Kirkwall Gallows had taken a bit longer than they'd expected.

It seemed a few templars stationed there had recognized Anders and when they'd seen him in chains being dragged along by members of the order, they'd nodded their approval or else made to spit on him.

Surprisingly, Jennifer had stopped them saying that "he's on his way to be judged. Besides, people have been spitting on him since the day we caught him."

"He deserves it" one templar had said as they boarded their ship.

Anders had wisely kept quiet throughout the whole thing, and only spoke once their ship had set sail.

The city in chains growing ever smaller in the distance.

"What happened there? The mages are all gone?" Anders said breaking the silence.

He and the templars were below deck in the cargo hold, they were uneasy with transporting a mage, even a Silenced mage, so the templars had elected to all watch over him.

They gave him annoyed looks.

Anders scoffed saying "templars killed all of them did they?"

"If only" Cane said glaring daggers at him.

So they're still alive then... some of them at least. Good. Anders thought.

"Jennifer" Anders said turning to the leader of the templars.

She ignored him.

Anders shifted uncomfortably and his chains rattled as he did so.

"Tell me this at least, what happened in Kirkwall? Looks like the city was under siege, and militia patrolling the streets alongside the city guard and the templars? ... what happened?" the Apostate asked pleadingly.

Jennifer was silent for a long moment but she turned to him with stern, hard eyes.

"That's because Kirkwall was under siege. And it was because of you" she said.

"Me?" Anders asked confused.

That doesn't make sense. I only got the mages to rebel... the templars wouldn't siege an entire city for that... no they might for the Circle. But a whole city? What would be the point? he thought.

"It was Sebastian Vael" Jennifer said to Anders's astonishment.

"What-" he stuttered.

"After the chantry was destroyed and the Grand Cleric murdered... he left Kirkwall and reclaimed his throne. Months later, Starkhaven launched an invasion of Kirkwall attempting to annex the city. Sebastian claimed it was vengeance, and that Kirkwall was the key to finding you" Jennifer answered.

All that just for the Grand Cleric? All that just to find me? Blighted Idiot! I wasn't in the city anymore! Anders thought angrily.

"The Prince of Starkhaven failed. Guard Captain Vallen led the defense of the city, and they held out as long as they could, but in the end they asked the Inquisition for help. Military aid was given, and the prince was sent running back to Starkhaven" Jennifer said finishing her tale.

She never dropped her cold demeanor Anders noticed.

Anders had more questions, he wanted to know more about this Inquisition, but judging from the look on Jennifer's face, he knew not to push his luck.

Instead Anders shook his head saying "damn Sebastian. Idiot."

"You met him, did you? There were rumors..." Jennifer said coldly.

"Aye, I knew him... royal bastard shot me" Anders muttered.

Anders's chains rattled as he raised a hand to the scar on his throat... the scar that Sebastian Vael's arrow had given him roughly four years ago.


Later

Whatever Skyhold was, it had not been what Anders was expecting.

The fortress sat in a stretch of the Frostback Mountains near the Dales, on the border between Orlais and Ferelden, and was currently headquarters to the Inquisition. Traffic was coming and going, from merchants, to soldiers, and Anders's surprise, mages as well.

Mages? Mages coming to Skyhold! What's happened! They're not even in chains! They're free...Anders thought as Jennifer and her templars hauled him pass the gates.

Jennifer had sent word ahead about whom she was bringing with her, and so the guards let them through with ease. They found a dozen templars waiting for them.

Sir Cullen was among the templars that met them, his eyes found Anders's.

You! Cullen's glare seems to say.

Sir Cullen had been there at Kirkwall, had been there when Anders had blown up the chantry. The templar had even seen him as a young man back in the Ferelden Circle many years ago.

Anders made quite the scene as he was let inside the fortress, apparently it's rare these days to see templars dragging an Apostate in chains behind them.

Before Anders could see much, Jennifer placed a bag over his head and he started sweating as the templars led him somewhere...

Barely managing to keep pace with the templars, awkwardly placing one foot in front of the other, he overheard Cullen speaking with Jennifer.

"We found him in the Free Marches held up in a cave. He doesn't seem to know what's happened. Didn't know nothing about the Inquisition or the Inquisitor" Jennifer said.

"Corypheus?" Cullen asked and Anders jolted as he nearly tripped over himself. That thing is dead. I saw Hawke cut its head off... Anders thought.

"No... he knows nothing" Jennifer answered.

"Maker's breath" Cullen swore.

Anders was brought inside a chamber, he thought so because it suddenly became very cramped and the air seems to thin.

"The Inquisitor is out with her squad at the moment. We'll have to keep him here until she returns" Cullen said as they came to a stop.

Anders managed to hold in his gasp as the templars pulled the bag off his head and he was thrown into a prison cell.

He scrambled to his feet and turned to face the templars, just as the door slammed shut and he heard the lock click.

"You could have at least taken off the chains" Anders said raising his hands to the bars of his cell, the chains in question rattling as he did so.

Cullen and Jennifer ignored him.

"This cell is inlaid with templar iron. Your magic won't work here" Jennifer said.

As if I hadn't already figured that out Anders thought.

"You'll wait here until your judgement. Food and water will be given to you twice a day, consider yourself lucky" Cullen said as if reading a script.

Then without another word, the templars left him alone in his cell.

...

Sometime later Anders paced back and forth in his cell uncomfortably, the chains on his arms rattling constantly as he did so.

His cell was bigger than he expected, he could roam a few feet without smacking into a wall, an empty bucket had been conveniently left for him, and although there was no bed he had enough to space to lay on the floor.

He wasn't sure how much time he spent pacing back and forth, bored out of his mind, before he laid down to get what sleep he could.

In many ways it reminded him of when he'd first been taken to the Circle as a young boy.

Years on the run had given him the ability to sleep on any surface, and so it was that he found himself drifting off to sleep.

What else could he do? His magic was suppressed here.


Anders dreamed that he was back with the Wardens, back with the Hero of Ferelden and his squad... dreamed of being imprisoned again in the Silverite Mine.

...

"They took our stuff! My pants! They took my bloody pants! No buddy takes Oghren's pants but Oghren!" the dwarf was shouting as he squirmed in his chains.

Anders sighed as he shifted uncomfortably in his own.

"I can honestly say I never expected to be in chains with you three. Ah, a Warden's life is full of surprises" Anders said managing to sit up despite the chains.

"Oh shut up Anders" Nathaniel said scowled as he rolled on the floor trying to sit, he was having a hard time with his hands bound behind his back.

"Make me" Anders said smirking.

Nathaniel only swore under his breath as Oghren kept shouting about his lost pants, completely ignoring Anders and the others.

There were five of them in the cell, Anders the mage, Justice, whom was possessing the dead body of the Grey Warden Kristoff, Nathaniel the ranger, Oghren the dwarf, and Agron the Hero of Ferelden and leader of the Wardens in Amaranthine.

The five of them had been captured by the unusually intelligent Darkspawn, and had awakened in chains with their weapons and gear taken from them.

'And to think, I thought being conscripted into the Wardens was a good thing. No more templars, yeah instead I get bloody Darkspawn' Anders thought.

"Quiet my companions. Our leader is working" Justice said rolling up into sitting position himself.

Anders, Oghren, and Nathaniel turned to see Agron Tabris, the fabled Hero of Ferelden and Warden Commander of Amaranthine, the elven Warden who'd slain the Archedemon, was busy with his back to the wall of their cell.

Agron had apparently woken up before any of them, and rolled himself up and managed to stand leaning against a wall. The living legend was shifting left to right against the wall as if fiddling with his chains.

"Boss man, if Oghren and Justice here couldn't break these chains then there's no way you can-" Anders began only to gasp in shock.

Agron shifted his weight, and suddenly his chains falling to the floor with a heavy thud.

"You were saying?" Agron said in that soft yet forceful way of his, a voice that commanded respect.

"How in the Maker's breath did you do that?" Anders asked as he and the other Wardens started in shock, with the exception of Oghren whom laughed like a madman.

"I always keep a lockpick hidden on my body. Never know when those things come in handy" Agron said as Justice held up his hands.

"Didn't they search-" Anders began as Agron knelt fiddling with Justice's chains.

"You stash one for them to find, and one they don't find" Agron said with a shrug as Justice's chains fell to the ground.

"Boss, I keep three on me. The Darkspawn took all of them, how'd you keep it hidden" Nathaniel asked wincing at his wounded pride.

"You pick up things living in an Alienage, the City Guards could be real bastards to any elf with valuables" was Agron's answer.

Anders shook his head smirking as Agron began to pick the lock on his chains.

Oghren was still laughing like madman, the dwarf howling into their cell and nearly shouting "haha the boss man always has a plan!"

"Oghren" Agron called turning to face the dwarf, "what have we talked about you shouting out into the open?" he continued.

The dwarf scowled saying "time and place."

"Time and place" Agron said and Oghren began muttering to himself in a considerably lower voice.

"Damn straight, the dwarf is almost as bad Anders" Nathaniel said scowling from the floor where he lay unable to get into a sitting position.

"Oh shut up Nathaniel" Anders said smirking at the sight of the man rolling on the floor helplessly, before turning his gaze to Oghren.

'Ha! Boss man is the only one who can control the dwarf' Anders thought at an almost silenced Oghren.

He looked down, watching Agron fiddle with his chains.

"One of these days you have to teach me how to do that" Anders said standing up as his chains fell with a thud.

The Hero of Ferelden seemed to consider that.

"Ask me later, and maybe I'll teach you" Agron muttered moving to free Nathaniel, even as Justice walked forward and lifted the poor man up into a sitting position.

"Thanks" Nathaniel said hurriedly to Justice and Agron as they freed him of his chains.

Lastly, Agron freed Oghren. The dwarf was grinning and eager for a fight as the chains fell from his hands.

Once all five of them were free, Agron picked the lock on the door of their cell. From there, they headed out in search of their stolen equipment and to find this so called Architect that the Darkspawn followed.

"You know; you never did say where you learned that? Picking locks and unraveling chains" Anders whispered as the Wardens moved quietly through the mine.

Agron had frozen at that, he usually didn't share his personal life, but today it seemed was an exception.

The Hero of Ferelden turned to him saying "... my girlfriend."

"Kinky" Anders said smirking.


Anders woke with a start as the sound of a plate being slid through his bars of his cell got his attention.

The man never once spoke to him. Anders stirred glancing down at the plate of before him even as the sound of footsteps was growing further and further distant.

"He probably spat in my food" Anders muttered to himself, he did that a lot lately.

Anders shook his head and grabbed the stale, cold, mash potatoes that had been afforded him.

Maker how old are these? Anders thought chewing on the potatoes until his teeth hit something that definitely wasn't food.

Anders froze mid-chew.

The Apostate knelt down before the cell floor and spat the mash potatoes out.

Gross Anders thought as he searched through the food he'd just regurgitated onto the floor. His fingers found what was he looking for and he pulled it out of the food, staring with wide eyes.

Someone had placed a single pin inside his mash potatoes.

"Always knew those lessons with Agron would come in handy" Anders muttered as he slid the pin into the lock of his chains.

Picking the lock on the chains that had bound him since the Free Marches had taken time, but he'd been able to do it despite not being a master as Agron had been.

The former Warden sighed as he stretched his arms and legs after days, no weeks, of strain.

"Now for the door" he said.

The door to his cell took longer for him to pick then his chains had. He'd nearly broken his pin twice during the process, but in time the lock clicked again and Anders gently pushed the door open.

Stepping out into the chamber of what Anders assumed was the dungeons, he realized he had no clue of where to go now.

Whomever had left that pin for him hadn't seemed to think things through very clearly.

How had they known he could pick the locks? And no note? No instructions of any kind?

Very sloppy, but at the moment Anders wasn't complaining.

Anders quietly walked along the chamber and as he stepped further and further away from his cell... he felt his magic returning to him.

Silence had finally worn off, and without the inlaid templar iron there was nothing to suppress his magic anymore.

He wandered the chamber aimlessly for a while, he'd had a bag over his head when he'd been brought in, so he knew next to nothing about the layout.

Finally, he reached a corner and heard footsteps... Anders froze.

He pressed himself tightly to the corner and listened to the jail keeper, the man who'd brought him his food, walking along the chamber.

Somehow I don't think he left me that pin Anders thought.

Taking a deep breath, Anders waited patiently for the jail keeper to approach his corner in the dark dungeon.

Suddenly Anders leapt around the corner and tackled the jail keeper, taking the man completely by surprise.

"Ah!" the jail keeper cried out as Anders shoved him into the wall.

Summoning the Arcane magic, he'd learned from his time with the Wardens, Anders got behind the jail keeper and put the man into a lock, his arms wrapped around the man's throat.

Though Anders was significantly weaker, having lost weight while on the run, the Arcane magic brought his strength up to nearly five men.

The jail keeper moaned as he lost oxygen, he raised his hands behind him trying to claw at Anders but the Apostate shifted left and right staying out of reach.

With one last groan the jail keeper stilled and lost consciousness slumping to the floor alongside Anders. Alive, but knocked out for Anders hadn't wanted to kill the man, only take him out for a few hours.

"That's twice I owe you now... Agron" Anders muttered.

The Hero of Ferelden had forced all Warden mages under his command to learn hand to hand combat as well as basic weapon training, he wanted his mages to defend themselves even without their magic.

In Amaranthine, that training had saved Anders's life more than once.

"Sorry mate" Anders said reaching down to trading clothes with the jail keeper.

The jail keeper's clothes fit him big, the man had been chubbier than Anders had been even before he'd been on the run. But it was all Anders had to work with.

Taking the man's keys, he eventually found the exit.


Anders emerged inside a hall of the fortress with no idea where he was.

He kept his head low and slouched his shoulder as he wandered the hallways of Skyhold.

He passed a few guards milling about and his heart beat so fast that he thought they were sure to hear it, but no one paid him any attention.

Apparently the guards and servants were used to seeing all manner of Inquisition workers milling about.

This fortress is massive he thought as he wandered, never lingering in one place and always walking as if he had somewhere to be.

After several hallways, and turns, Anders ended up climbed a few stairs and accidentally ended up walking into the kitchens.

"Eh? Hey! You'll have to wait for dinner like everyone else! No if, and, or buts!" a fussy elven woman said as they spotted Anders wearing the jail keeper's clothes.

Anders kept his head down and turned back the way he came, making sure no cook or servant saw his face.

"Hmm" he grunted as he left the way he came in.

No cooks questioned it, only scowling at the foolish jail keeper whom had tried to get dinner a little early.

In time, Anders found himself emerging onto the Skyhold courtyard in the merchant's district.

He paused for a moment before walking along and joining the throngs of people shopping for wares.

Anders sneaked a hat from a clothing merchant and quickly put it on, better to conceal his face.

He reached into the jail keeper's pocket and found some coin there, not much but enough what for Anders had in mind.

Acting quickly, he grabbed the first coat that looked like it fit him and paid for it without saying a word. The merchant was happy to take his money either way.

How the hell do I get out of here? the Apostate thought sliding the coat over himself.

Walking further along the courtyard, Anders saw stairs leading to an upper level of Skyhold, where he spotted what looked like a tavern.

Could get lost in the crowd there. Try to get some info, but then what? And what if someone who knows the real jail keeper spots me Anders thought darkly.

He decided against it and continued on.

Anders soon learned that the Skyhold courtyard was enormous.

Complete with stables, the merchant district he'd just left, aid tents where healer had set up shop, and even what looked like a make shift arena set up by some soldiers for some off duty fun.

But that wasn't what Anders was looking for as he passed the throngs of people milling about, mages and templars, soldiers and healers, scholars and merchants.

The gates! Now to find a way out... Anders thought as he headed for them, seeing that only two guards had been posted there.

Only for his worst nightmare to emerge from the stairs that led to the upper levels of the Skyhold courtyard...

Sir Cullen and Jennifer, the templar who'd led the squad that captured him, both in full templar armor had emerged onto ground floor where Anders was.

He quickly turned around hoping that they wouldn't notice an odd man walking in clothes that seemed to fit him a tad too big.


"The repairs are still ongoing I see" Jennifer was saying as she walked with Cullen.

"We've come a long way. When the Inquisition first rediscovered Skyhold, the place was a ruin. Months later, it's not only livable but flourishing" Sir Cullen said as they walked.

The templars walked side by side, they'd caught up with each other in the Skyhold tavern, but now they were on their way to check up on another old friend in the Order who'd been wounded in battle.

The healers had set up shop on the ground floor of the courtyard, and that was where the templars had been heading when suddenly Jennifer froze.

"Something wrong?" Cullen said turning to face his sister in arms.

"That's can't be..." Jennifer said slowly as she pulled a pendant from her side pouch.

A pendant that held a glass vial filled with human blood.

The Phylactery in Jennifer's hand began to vibrant the moment she pulled it free.

Sir Cullen stared wide eyed at the Phylactery.

"This is Anders's Phylactery" Jennifer said holding it up and channeling the templars power into it.

Anders's Phylactery stirred as Jennifer raised it higher into the air.

"It shouldn't be reacting this much... he's in a cell in the dungeons" Cullen said looked around the courtyard warily.

Jennifer narrowed her eyes and spotted a lone figure in a hat and long coat heading for the merchant district.

"You there! Halt!" she called heading for the man.

The man ignored her and Jennifer strode after him.

Sir Cullen followed after her, a hand on the hilt of his longsword...


Anders cursed as Jennifer began following him.

Jennifer held the Phylactery in her hand and pointed it directly at her target's back. The glass vial glowed bright red...

"It's him!" Jennifer cursed.

"He escaped?!" Cullen said barely believing it.

Just as Anders was about to disappear back into the crowd of people in the merchant's district, Jennifer's sharp voice called out getting everyone's attention.

"The man wearing the hat and brown coat is an escaped prisoner!" Jennifer shouted with the tone of a drill sergeant.

The effect was almost instantaneous. The crowd of buyers parted, all eyes on Anders, as Cullen pointed at him.

"THAT IS ANDERS! THE MAN WHO IGNITED THE MAGE-TEMPLAR WAR. HE'S TRYING TO ESCAPE!" Jennifer shouted.

"Guards seize him!" Sir Cullen barked as the people were in uproar, running in their attempt to flee from Anders and the approaching guards.

News travels quickly it seems, there must have been rumors of his arrival. The people seemed to know that he'd been brought in as a prisoner.

Anders turned this way and that, frozen in place as the people around him ran in all directions, yet he could see guards and off duty templars closing in on him.

"It's him!" he heard one woman, a mage, shout as she fled the scene.

"Murderer!" Anders heard another woman shout at him.

Smack

Anders flinched as a piece of fruit crashed into his face with such force that he stumbled back.

He looked up seeing a fruit merchant making to grab something else to throw at him. He scowled at her, and the fruit merchant seemed to realize that throwing things at a mage was not a good idea.

She ran away with all the other merchants soon after.

Fight or flight Anders thought.

He chose fight.

Anders raised a hand and sent a burst of flame magic towards two off duty templars who'd been heading his way.

The templars jumped back avoiding the flames as Anders ran the other way.

He didn't know where he was going, but Anders cast spell after spell, sending flame and lightning out, forcing the guards and templars back.

An arrow whizzed pass his head, missing him by less than an inch.

"No killing! We want him alive!" Sir Cullen shouted unsheathing his longsword and shield.

Anders cast Rock Armor on himself, encasing his body in a magical layer of armor, just as an arrow took him in the knee.

The arrow bounced off harmlessly as Anders threw caution to the wind and made a beeline for the gates, only Sir Cullen and Jennifer stood in his way.

Anders raised a hand but stumbled as an Inquisition guard managed to sneak up on him and tackle him, trying to bring him to the ground.

But Anders channeled the Arcane magic amplifying his physical strength, he stumbled but did not fall. Anders grunted as he threw the guard off of him as easily.

Jennifer and Cullen were closing ranks on him, they'd spread out in typical templar procedure, giving the mage two opponents on two different sides to focus his spells on in the hope that if one templar failed, the other would succeeded.

Luckily, neither Cullen nor Jennifer were close enough to use Silence on him.

"Justice... give me strength" Anders muttered to himself, he did that a lot lately.

He felt the familiar stirring inside of him, and his magic surged growing in power but becoming less stable and harder to focus.

Anders cast a wall of flame magic in front of Cullen, the flames erupting into existence with a hiss, and stopping the templar from chasing him for the moment.

Then he turned and cast an unstable but powerful Stonefist at Jennifer, the fist of magical stone that emerged from Anders's hands slammed into her and she went fly back several feet.

Jennifer landed with a heavy thud... followed by the sound of denting armor. She moaned loudly, a rib or two had been fractured. Anders hadn't meant to do that; he'd only wanted to clear an opening for himself.

He didn't have time to contemplate though as he ran for the gates.

The two guards station there had seen what Anders had done and fled the scene, leaving their post unmanned.

Almost there Anders thought even as another arrow bounced harmlessly of his layer of Rock Armor.

Cullen dispelled the wall of flame magic with a chant and a wave of his hand. The flames dying down and fading into harmless smoke. Cullen cursed as he strode forth to follow after Anders, but a voice stopped him... a familiar voice.

"Stay back, I'll handle this" the woman said.

"You?" Sir Cullen said turning to see a lone mage striding past him, she had no love for him but he knew better than to tangle with her.

Anders was feet away from the gates... when suddenly he found himself being forced back by some unseen force.

Something was pulling him back and he was powerless to stop it.

"Pull of the Abyss... Force Magic" Anders said in shock as he was dragged back dozens of feet. His layer of Rock Mage useless here.

Without thinking about it, Anders whirled around casting an unstable but powerful Chain Lightning at the enemy mage.

Only Anders gulped in shock and horror as he saw who had been dragging him back into the courtyard...

Bethany Hawke.

She was almost thirty years old now, wearing the robes of a former Circle mage, and looking at him with such cold fury that he had trouble believing it was the same sweet girl he'd once known in Kirkwall.

Hawke's little sister, so pure... so innocent.

What have I done?! Anders thought as the lightning left his hands.

Bethany only calmly gripped her staff, casting Unshakable.

A 'bubble' of Force Magic surrounded her body, rooting her down and suppressing all physical and elemental attacks... gravity itself acting as her shield as she become the very essence of an unmovable object.

Anders's lightning never even touched Bethany, it caught and tangled at her bubble of Force Magic, before contracting onto itself and seeming to fall apart into nothing.

Nothing, not dragon fire, not even a black hole, could hurt or move Bethany in that state.

"When did you get that strong" Anders whispered as he was suddenly lifted into the air.

Anders closed his eyes as Bethany's Force magic held him mid-air, nearly two stories above the ground... before she lowered her hand and sent Anders slamming down with a heavy thud.

He cried out in pain, his Rock Armor cracking, as he lay on the ground.

Anders made to get up but Bethany cast Fist of the Maker on him, and he coughed violently as her unseen force slammed him into the ground so hard he sank an inch into the stone pavement.

My Rock Armor... Anders thought in despair at the sight of his magical armor cracking.

"Bethany... please" Anders moaned as her unseen force slammed him into the ground again and he sank deeper into the crater she'd made.

An ally dares to raise a hand against us. We will have Justice... Vengeance! Vengeance! a voice that was not Anders's said inside his head.

"No" Anders whispered in horror as the blue flames erupted from his body.

"I am Justice!" Anders's body yelled breaking free of the Force Magic and standing up. The voice that erupted into sound was not Anders's, it was cold and hard, vengeful.

That thing again! Cullen thought warily.

"Oh. It's you" Bethany said staring at Anders's body with contempt.

"You turn against your own kind. You will burn!" Justice roared raising one of Anders's hand.

But Bethany was quicker, she waved a hand and Justice went sliding back. Yet Justice did not fall.

Standing tall and unbound, he did not break, he did not fall even as Bethany's force slammed into him in waves strike after strike of unseen force. Cullen stared at the sight, the raw power of Justice to stand against its foes.

Justice scoffed off Bethany's Force Magic and began striding towards her, menace in it's cold eyes.

Bethany took a deep breath and placed both hands on her staff channeling her Force at the ground beneath Justice's feet.

Justice roared as he was suddenly pulled to the ground, gravity fighting to bring him to the ground, yet the spirit fought the unseen force. Justice roared kneeling down, but never falling, not even with gravity itself turned against it.

Bethany lifted a hand up and Justice felt her unseen force hoist him up again, lifted two stories in the air. She gritted her teeth, feeling the thing fighting to break free of her grasp and actually doing it.

Justice roared in mid-air, nearly breaking free of the unseen holding him, but Bethany sent him flying like some sort of rag doll. Slamming the abomination into the stone walls of the fortress... again and again.

Loud cracks thundered onto the courtyard as Justice's spirit armor began to crack before finally shattering before their eyes, the flames disappearing from Anders's body.

Cullen watched with horrid fascination as Justice's magical armor was destroyed by the sheer force of Bethany's attacks... never in all his time as a templar had he ever seen anything like that.

Magical shields were always dispelled, never shattered. That was the point... they were supposed to be unbreakable.

Bethany lowered her hand and Anders floated gently through the air landing back on the ground, his armor gone and his face bruised and bloodied.

Justice had been defeated leaving only Anders the man.

Without another word, Bethany pointed at Anders and he found himself pressed face first into the pavement... he felt as if his muscles weighed a thousand pounds.

He couldn't move a finger even if he had the strength to try.

Bethany turned to Cullen saying "you should be more careful when you lock him up."

"I... yes" Cullen said before shouting at his templars to restrain Anders.

When the templars reached the fallen Anders, they put him in chains again, but were unable to lift him... it was if Anders weighed a thousand pounds.

Cullen turned to Bethany asking "what did you do to him?"

"I manipulated the gravity around his body. Made him 'heavier' you could say" Bethany said as she released her spell on Anders.

Anders let out a small groan as he felt his body returning weight, yet every bone in his body ached. He felt hands grab him, and he closed his eyes in the sheer pain it caused.

He managed to turn his blackened and bloodied face to Bethany.

"Why..." he said in a broken voice as the templars dragged him away.

Bethany crossed her arms saying nothing.

She only looked at him with those cold unforgiving eyes.

Later that night, Anders breathed painfully in his new cell.

Two armed templars had been station outside.

He lay on the floor too weak to move, he must have had several fractures on his bones and dozens of bruises. He wondered how the templars thought he was still a threat.

Anders groaned as he tried to stretch his arms and legs but found that he couldn't.

It hurt too much.

"All that... and I'm back where I started" Anders whispered softly through the pain, he did that a lot lately.


Quite a few cameos this chapter eh?
And Bethany Hawke! You do not want to piss her off. For why she's in Skyhold, check out my other fic Broken Promises.
She will play a role in this story.
We'll see a bit more companions next chapter and the Inquisition will not be happy about what happened in the merchant district.

Thanks for Reading and please Review!