Burning. Dizzy. Aching. Heat and humidity weighed in Gwendolyn's lungs, making it that much more difficult to breathe. Her hand ached. Why? Did she scrape it? No, it was more of a dull throbbing, save for a streak right across her palm that burned. She lifted her head, her vision slightly blurry. Dark brown locks fell in wisps in front of her face. Some of it was charred and the smell of burnt hair wafted into her nostrils; along with the faint smell of smoke and the more pungent one of decay and moisture.

Gwendolyn lifted herself up, first using her arms, then a knee, then finally was able to stand. She surveyed the area around her to find most of it was shrouded in gray, rusty orange, and green smoke. Jagged rocks reminiscent of onyx jutted out from the ground everywhere she looked. As she moved, she felt her tunic sway in a way that was unnatural. Looking down, she discovered it had been scorched and tattered. Ruined. She could feel sweat beginning to bead on the back of her neck and her forehead.

Up ahead, she saw a rocky platform, matching the rest of the protruding rocks around her, save for the stair like carvings into the face of it and what was standing atop it, seeming to be looking down upon her. A bright light in the shape of a woman stood there, as if waiting for something. From her point of view, Gwendolyn couldn't discern any features from the woman, only that she glowed. As if out of instinct, she began to trek forward towards her.

Behind her, Gwendolyn heard clacking and chittering from multiple different sources. Whirring around, she discovered a small horde of giant spiders, hairy, dark, and with fangs dripping with ichor. At once, she propelled towards the glowing woman, legs pumping as fast as she could manage to get away from them. Why didn't she exercise more in the circle? Once she reached the carvings, she grabbed onto them desperately, hoisting herself up with haste that she didn't think she had. Looking back once, she saw that the spiders were gaining on her. Cursing, she turned back around and resumed her climb.

Up ahead, the apparition reached towards her. Thank the Maker, she was helping. Once she was close enough, Gwendolyn returned her reach, wanting very much to grab the proffered hand before the spiders got her. Her arm hurt with the effort but she still tried, like her life was on the line. It probably was. Right before her fingers brushed against the woman's, her left hand pulsed with bright green energy, sending a wave of pain up most of her arm. That was the last thing she remembered of her. Next thing she knew, she was crawling on her hands and knees in the ruins of Maker Knows Where. Fire crackled everywhere around her and the odor of burnt wood, stone, and flesh hit her senses.

Overcome with a wave of exhaustion, Gwendolyn fell forward, her hand aching again. She barely registered the sound of jogging footsteps before sleep overcame her.


Waking up in an unknown room, Gwendolyn noted that her hands were shackled. The pain in her hand cleared the haze from her mind as her palm flickered to life. Turning it over, another jolt of aching pulsed through her and she took in a sharp inhale. The room around her was dimly lit. The smell of dust, sweat, and stale air circulated through Gwendolyn's senses. The door ahead flew open and in walked two women, one of them supremely cranky looking, the other more cautious and observatory. Gwendolyn's eyes flitted between the two of them, knowing she'd never seen either of them before and wondering why they were here.

"You're awake." The second woman, clad in a lavender hood strode forward, standing off to the side of Gwendolyn, looking down at her with her arms crossed. "Perhaps now you can answer a few questions for us, no?" She asked, her head turning to the first, the cranky one, and nodded once towards the mage. Her lips curled in what one could only describe as disgust and took so much as two strides towards Gwendolyn before yanking her shackles up, practically shoving them in front of her.

"Where did you get this?" Her voice was low and dangerous. It was like her tongue was cured in Deathroot before making her way here. As if by cue, Gwendolyn's left hand sparked, green energy whipping erratically around her palm and the back, causing another wave of pain to rock Gwendolyn's body. The latter groaned loudly in response, nearly doubling over, if not for the woman still holding onto her shackles, keeping her as upright as she could be. Perhaps just to spite Gwendolyn, the woman threw her shackles down, Gwendolyn falling and smacking her forehead against the stone. After the pain ebbed away, she turned her head up to glower at the woman.

"Why don't you-" She paused to take a deep breath, hoping that would soothe the remainder of her aching. "tell me." She finished, pushing herself back up into a seated position, her posture now straight. "I have no idea what this thing is, or how it got here." Gwendolyn by no means had the attitude of a typical noble, but she wasn't about to be treated like this without some shred of a fight. She didn't know why she was here. She was confused. She didn't know how that...thing got on her hand in the first place. And even if she did know, she wasn't about to readily give that information away to someone who was acting this way.

"You're lying!" The first woman practically snarled, lunging forward, held back by the second woman, who pulled her off of the mage.

"We need her, Cassandra." The second woman eased the first into calming from what seemed like a poorly directed rage. Gwendolyn pursed her lips and shook her head.

"I don't know what I'm here for. I just want to get back home. Sleep. I'm tired and miss people I knew back at the Circle." Gwendolyn tried to shift into a position more comfortable, wincing when she discovered her legs had the circulation cut off from them by sitting on her knees. She must've been sitting like this for a while to garner that result. "They must miss me." She finished, rolling her shoulders, looking between the two of them, who exchanged looks, then looked back at her.

"You must've been much farther out of your senses than we thought." The hooded woman remarked, her eyebrows furrowing together, creating an admittedly pretty frown, but a frown no less. Gwendolyn mimicked her actions, feeling her eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Gwendolyn asked, once again, looking between the two of them, searching for answers. Cassandra sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose before turning to the hooded woman, issuing a terse order.

"Go ahead to the forward camp, Leliana. I'll make sure she's-" She shifted her eyes, focusing back on Gwendolyn. "informed about the situation at hand." Leliana nodded, jogging out the door and out into the room adjacent. Gwendolyn could hear footfalls echo throughout wherever she just went. She guessed a hallway. Cassandra made her way to Gwendolyn, freeing her wrists from their shackles with a key, turned quickly and precisely, the locks clicking apart quickly. The moment of freedom was short lived however, as Cassandra quickly bound Gwendolyn's hands back together using rope.

"Come. There is much to show you." Cassandra ushered, her voice still low as she led Gwendolyn out of the cold stone room.


Gwendolyn faced down a monstrous abnormality, standing almost twice as tall as she, with an emaciated, gangly green body, the color of old moss, or mold. The creature slammed her down to the ground, the staff she had found earlier between it and her. It was all she could do to keep the creature off of her. Said creature unhinged its jaw, looking as if it could easily fit her head between its teeth with room to spare and let out a blood curdling screech. Acrid breath and droplets of saliva from the creature flew out of its maw and slapped Gwendolyn's face, making her cringe. She was grateful when a well shot arrow from Varric felled the monster, the bolt sticking straight out of its temple. Like a corpse, it slumped off of her before dissolving into a dense pool of smoke and ash.

That was the last of the demons from the rift. Scrambling to her feet, Gwendolyn rushed to the rift, almost slipping once on a patch of ice, but corrected her gait and was able to direct her palm towards the rift. A gout of green energy streamed through the air and connected to the rift, which coiled in on itself in response. The light from the portal contracted and pulsed, trying in vain to stay open, to stay active, when it lost and collapsed. Gwendolyn was already tired. Exhausted, really. And freezing. Since she'd woken up that morning, she had a lot dumped on her.

She was the primary suspect of a mass homicide, and there was a gargantuan hole in the sky, spewing out rifts that in turn spit out demons and Maker Knows What, and they're all over Thedas. There was a mark on her hand, killing her and it was the only possible resource any of these people had in closing the aforementioned gargantuan hole. People were panicking, dying, and blaming her since she'd gotten out of that Chantry jail, and she had been facing off demons for who knows how long. That was what she had absorbed already, and the day wasn't even over yet. By the looks of it, not even close.

Gwendolyn trekked forward, observing Cassandra and Solas picking the injured, spent scouts from the floor while Varric collected bolts fired from Bianca. A couple were standing, one of which limped forward, clutching her ribs and spoke to Cassandra.

"Lady Cassandra! Thank the Maker you made it when you did. We had begun to think we wouldn't make it." The soldier, a woman spoke. Even in full body leather Fereldan armor and a helmet, Gwendolyn could tell she was enervated just by how she sounded. Cassandra gave Gwendolyn a look before turning back to the soldier.

"You should thank the prisoner, Lieutenant. She insisted we come this way." Gwendolyn smiled. At least she was given credit where credit was due. The Lieutenant nodded at the mage, a smile crinkling her eyes, showing crow's feet at the corners.

"Then I owe you my sincerest thanks." She nodded. Gwendolyn only nodded in response as the Lieutenant helped what was left of her party down the path, away from the scene. Gwendolyn's party followed a bit after, careful not to catch their feet on patches of ice, which had proven more difficult for Gwendolyn than anyone else. Varric and Cassandra had come close to losing their balance at one point, but never fell, and Solas had remained slip free this whole time. All of it lead to Gwendolyn's minor unadmitted vexation on the matter.

They had reached the end of the hill, and in turn had crossed into the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Gwendolyn frowned, knowing it seemed familiar. She looked around, flames still lapping at stone and wood, still stubbornly standing. Bodies, charred and unrecognizable littered the ground, their mouths twisted in an everlasting silent scream. The putrid smell of smoke and burning flesh clung to this area profoundly. Onward they went, further into the destruction. The Breach was very near.


Leliana had found them, jogging to the party, breathing a sigh of relief when she reached them.

"You're here. Thank the Maker." She said, eyes scanning everyone.

"Leliana, have your men take up positions around the temple." Cassandra ordered. Leliana nodded and went to carry out the instructions. Cassandra led the party through the ruins, trying to find a safe way down to the ground so Gwendolyn could take a shot at closing the Breach. The mage felt her hands become slick with sweat, matching her browline despite the fact that she was so cold that moments ago she was shivering. Andraste, she was nervous! The mark pulsed and flickered, a stinging sensation rippling across her skin. Gwendolyn wondered briefly if it was reacting to her unease, or if it was anxious being around the Breach. She didn't know and supposed she never would.

Voices echoed through the temple's remains, making Gwendolyn frown, feeling them poke and prod at her psyche.

"Now is the hour of our victory." It sounded so familiar, yet not. The back of her head vaguely itched. "Bring forth the sacrifice." The party had voiced their opinions and concerns on the matter, hearing them as well, but Gwendolyn paid no heed to what was said amongst them. She was more focused on the voices themselves. Where had she heard them before? She had to have, right? Otherwise, it wouldn't be bothering her so much.

Red lyrium. Varric pointed out the rather large vein of it growing from the face of the rock surrounding the remains of the temple, its glow emanating and curling in the air around it. Gwendolyn had never seen it up close, but she'd heard stories of it back in the circle.

"Magic from whatever destroyed the temple could've drawn it here." Solas suggested when Varric had asked what it was doing here. Gwendolyn had noted that when he asked his teeth were gnashed, jaw tight. He was obviously upset about it's presence.

"It's evil. Whatever any of you do, don't fucking touch it." Gwendolyn frowned at Varric's change in demeanor. The dwarf, who was laid-back the entire trip down here, had suddenly turned agitated and upset at the sight of the glowing red substance.

"Someone! Help me!" A feminine voice echoed through the temple. The prodding in Gwendolyn's head bloomed, becoming more insistent and intense. Cassandra labeled it as Divine Justinia's voice. Was this a piece of what happened at the Conclave? The prodding turned to pounding, giving Gwendolyn a strong, throbbing headache. She clutched her head, the mark twitching. Her hand up to her wrist was rippling with its green energy. At this point, she was behind the group.

Once the party had reached solid ground, a vision played out. A tall creature, clad in shadow, save for haunting glowing eyes stood in front of Divine Justinia. Doors opened and in came Gwendolyn, demanding to know what had happened. Gwendolyn frowned, her eyes widening as she shook her head. Why didn't she remember this? Why didn't she remember any of this? The shadow had given orders for Gwendolyn to be killed before the vision deflated, flickering out of sight completely. Cassandra turned to face her, an accusatory glare painted clear as day on her face.

"So you were there! The Divine! And she...who attacked? Who was that? What happened?" She demanded. Gwendolyn worked her jaw before facing Cassandra and gave an irritated reminder.

"I. Don't. Remember." She growled, walking past the Seeker to stand in front of the Breach. She stared up at it, balking at the massive size of it. Up at the top, boulders the size of houses simply wafted as if weightless. The statue of Andraste, which it originated from was broken apart, but the pieces remained hovering above the ground, same as the boulders so far up into the sky. Solas spoke out, his voice carrying clearly through the area so the party could hear.

"With the mark, we should be able to close the Breach safely. However, I should warn you, trying to close a tear in the veil this massive will definitely garner attention from the other side." He spoke seriously with a tight grip on his staff.

"That means demons! Everyone stand ready!" Cassandra barked, her strong voice echoing through the ruins louder than Solas's did. At her command, the scouts and soldiers in the area prepared themselves, unsheathing swords with the telltale collective metallic sound that came from doing so or nocking arrows into bows. The archers aimed and waited while soldiers took up positions around the Breach, ready to attack.

Gwendolyn took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping to abate her nerves. It didn't work at all but she schooled her face into one of focus and determination. Shifting her stance and readying her staff in her right hand, her left extended, a beam of that same green light sprang from her hand as if more than eager to unite with the Breach. The latter reacted immediately, contracting the same way the rifts did, but so unlike the others, something fell from the tear in the form of a massive armored creature.

The creature stood and stared down at the collective bunch of soldiers and laughed, the sound sardonic and deep, causing gooseflesh to bloom on Gwendolyn's skin. Cassandra gave the order for the archers to release their arrows, all of the projectiles simply reflecting off of the creature's armor.

Gwendolyn kept her focus on the Breach. Her palm was still facing the tear, hoping that if she kept on it, it would close that much quicker, and also hoping that everyone here could handle that...that...thing without much other help from her.

The Breach rippled, the gout of light reacting in kind, acting the way lightning normally would. The Breach and her mark were combatting each other! She felt it in the sudden massive wave of pain that dropped her to her knees, the ray of energy ceasing. Looking off to the side, Gwendolyn took note that at least the soldiers were gaining up on the creature.

The behemoth was inhibited when an arrow shot by Leliana had landed in one of its eyes, garnering a pained roar that shook Gwendolyn's bones and the ground around her. The creature summoned a chain of lightning and simply swept aside a half dozen soldiers attacking its legs, one of which being Cassandra, who stubbornly rose right back up to her feet, her eyes blazing with determination to win the battle. She rolled her shoulders, opened her mouth and issued a war cry from her throat so loud it called the monster's attention right to her. It stomped to her, raising its arms up over its head, ready to bring them down on the ground.

Cassandra moved too fast for the creature. She delivered a deep gash on its heel, bringing it to its knees when Solas had encompassed his body in a wall of ice, allowing the archers to have more shots at its body. A few hit wounds that the soldiers had made in its armor, while others simply bounced off the tough hide that covered the behemoth's body.

Gwendolyn turned back to the Breach, still on her knees. She propped herself up on one and aimed her palm at the center once more, the beam returning. Sweat ran off of her face in rivulets, her body undergoing stress it wasn't used to. She pushed through despite it all. The Breach fought back, delivering another wave of pain through her body and more creatures poured onto the battlefield. Varric noticed and quickly dispatched one, the bolt sticking out grotesquely through its skull, covered in black seemingly coagulated blood. Another joined the fray of soldiers and another came to Gwendolyn. Using her staff, she aimed fireballs at the creature, nearly every one of them missing.

"Damn it!" She cursed, hurling another few at it. One hit, scorching its body. It was when another archer had dispatched it from their position above that Gwendolyn could go back to worrying about the Breach.

Suffice it to say it was a long fight. The behemoth fought with the last of its strength until it was felled by Cassandra and a few of the remaining soldiers. A creature approached Gwendolyn and had its long, scaly, splintering arms around her neck. Solas froze it solid and Gwendolyn tried one last time that day to close the Breach. By now, she was covered in sweat, her hair clinging to her face in wet tendrils. Her skin was flushed, and dusted with soot and dirt from the fight. Her clothes, as raggedy as they'd been before, were all but trash by now and stained the same way her skin was with the addition of quite a bit of blood. The Breach reacted strongly, a bright white light bathing the area and a thundering boom emitting from the impact. At once, the Breach pulsed through the entire sky once more, sending a ripple of wind and debris all around it for miles, even reaching Haven and bewildering the people dwelling in the settlement.

Gwendolyn once again felt a much welcome sleep wrap itself around her in a warm embrace. Her exhaustion plateaued as she slipped into a much deserved comatose.


A/N: I re-did the chapter, feeling the last rendition of it was not only too long, but it went into too much detail over what happened in game. EVERYONE knows what happened in the game, so I felt I needed to re do the chapter. I think it turned out pretty damn well.