It did not take much longer for Lady Trevelyan and the others with her to reach the forward-camp, where upon reaching they found another rift and demons. After closing the rift, the guards allowed the group to continue forward. Leliana could be seen arguing with a chantry cleric, an older gentlemen who seemed to be doing most of the yelling. As Lady Trevelyan and Seeker Cassandra stepped forward, the spymaster and chantry cleric looked up.
"You made it," Leliana said, even seeming glad to see Lady Trevelyan. The spymaster turned to the cleric. "Chancellor Rodrick, this is—"
"I know who she is," the Chantry Cleric snapped, glaring at Lady Trevelyan. He pointed an accusing finger at her. "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this prisoner to Val Royeaux to face execution!"
"'Order me'?" Cassandra spat, stepping between the chancellor and Lady Trevelyan. "You are a glorified clerk. A Bureaucrat!"
Chancellor Rodrick glared at Cassandra, displeased with her answer to his 'authority'. "And you are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the chantry."
"We serve the Most Holly, Chancellor," Leliana snapped.
"Justinia is dead!" Chancellor Rodrick countered right back. "We must elect a replacement, and obey her orders of the matter."
Lady Trevelyan laughed under her breath, causing everyone to look to her. "So no one is actually in charge here."
"You killed everyone who was in charge!" Rodrick yelled, waving a finger at the noble.
Cassandra stepped up once again, defending the person she was beginning to believe was innocent of the crimes she was accused of. Lady Trevelyan appreciated the gesture. As of right now, Lady Trevelyan did not know if Chancellor Rodrick disliked her because he really believed she had something to do with the Divine's death, or if it was because she was a mage. She would not be surprised it was the former.
"Call a retreat, Seeker," Chancellor Rodrick begged, looking to Cassandra. "Our position here is hopeless."
Lady Trevelyan sighed as the two continued talking. She had stopped paying attention at this point, having enough of the heated debates. They were wasting time standing here, discussing the situation among themselves, while they should be acting.
"Not entertaining enough for you?" Lady Trevelyan looked down to the dwarf beside her, seeing him looking up at her with an eyebrow raised.
"Is it always like this?" she decided to ask, lifting her own eyebrow.
Varric chuckled. "More than you know."
Lady Trevelyan scoffed once again, shaking her head. She inhaled a sharp breath when the mark on her hand became active, causing her hand to tremble. She looked to it, seeing the mark slowly stretch further across her palm, tearing away at her skin. When the Breach settled, as did the mark.
"We cannot dally here much longer," Solas noted, looking to the Seeker.
Cassandra understood and stepped to Lady Trevelyan, earning a confused look in response. "How do you think we should proceed?"
Lady Trevelyan scoffed, a look of disbelief on her face. Was she really being asked this? Now of all times? "Now you're asking me what I think?"
"You are the one we must take," Cassandra said with a shrug.
Lady Trevelyan sighed, turning her head slightly. The Breach caught her attention from the corner of her eye, and made her raise her head. As she looked at it, she realized how serious the situation she found herself in, if it had not hit her already. She would not last long if they decided to take their time, nor would the people of Thedas.
"I say we charge." Lady Trevelyan looked back to Cassandra with a firm gaze. "I won't live long enough for your trial if we keep dallying. Whatever happens, happens now."
Cassandra nodded and turned back to Leliana. "Leliana, have your scouts meet us at the temple." The Spymaster gave a single nod and left.
"May the consequences be on your head, Seeker," Rodrick spat as the small group left began heading towards the hills.
Lady Trevelyan had heard Rodrick's words to Cassandra. If anyone should be blamed for the outcome of this situation, it should be Lady Trevelyan herself, should it not? She was the 'criminal' here. In Lady Trevelyan's eyes, Cassandra and Leliana were trying the best they could, even with their bickering, while the 'Chancellor' did nothing but stand around.
The trip up the mountain was slow, even though the course was supposed to be the quickest to the temple. Lady Trevelyan had slipped on the snow multiple times, only to be helped up by Cassandra and reassured that it was not much farther until the temple. The Seeker no doubt knew that Lady Trevelyan was not accustomed to the terrain of the mountains, nor much of Fereldan.
It was upon reaching the archway leading to the Temple of Sacred Ashes that the small group of four found themselves in the presence of another rift, one soldiers were desperately trying to control. It was not until they stepped in that the situation became less dire. Lady Trevelyan spun her staff, slamming the end against the ground. Lightning came down from the sky and struck several demons, and startled several soldiers, who were thankful for the rescue soon after.
"How many rifts are there?" Varric shouted, reloading Bianca as quickly as he could. He fired the bolt just as another demon spawned and lunged towards him.
"We must seal it if we are to get past!" Solas shouted, defending himself from a similar situation.
Lady Trevelyan defended Cassandra by freezing a demon when it tried flanking her. The Seeker then had time to turn around and shatter the demon to pieces.
Once the demons were gone, Lady Trevelyan took her chance to outstretch her hand to the rift. When the rift sealed, the force it caused threw her hand back again, nearly toppling her over. Solas stepped beside her, seeing if she was alright, to which she waved a hand and gave a weary smile.
Solas looked to the sky where the rift had been. "Sealed, as before." He looked to Lady Trevelyan, giving a small smile. "You are becoming quite proficient at this."
Lady Trevelyan chuckled at the comment, wondering if she would ever become 'proficient' at closing rifts. But before she could give her own comment, her head turned to the Seeker who had begun conversing with one of the nearby soldiers.
"Seeker Cassandra, I see you've found a way to close the rifts," he had said through winded breath. "Good."
Cassandra scoffed and gave a half turn. "Do not congratulate me, Commander." She motioned a hand over to Lady Trevelyan. "This was the prisoner's doing."
"Is it?" the Commander asked with a raised eyebrow. When his brown eyes laid upon Lady Trevelyan, he seemed to stiffen slightly in his place. Lady Trevelyan was not too surprised he reacted this way, most people did and she tended to get used to it. Mages were not exactly welcomed. "I hope they're right about you. We've lost a lot of people getting you here."
Lady Trevelyan felt the weight on her shoulders become ten pounds heavier. "You aren't the only one hoping that..."
"We'll just have to see, won't we?" he replied almost bitterly. The Commander looked back to Seeker Cassandra, pointing up the way. "The path to the temple is open for you. Leliana will meet you there"
"Buy us time, Commander," Cassandra replied.
The Commander nodded his head, glancing back over to Lady Trevelyan. "Maker watch over you. For all our sakes." He then ran off, helping an injured soldier back to safety. He did not notice Lady Trevelyan's eyes watching him carefully before she wandered off with Cassandra and the others.
Lady Trevelyan jumped down to the ground, eyes widening when she saw the frozen corpses in stone, all still set ablaze. This was what was left of the Conclave. Seeing it for herself, Lady Trevelyan could not believe she had even stepped out of this alive, let alone unharmed. That is if you counted a glowing mark on her hand slowly consuming her 'unharmed'.
"This is where our soldiers found you," Cassandra said softly as they walked through the devastation. "They say a woman was behind you…"
Lady Trevelyan could find no words to say to the Seeker, and all could see that she was surprised. And after walking around several corners and seeing the Breach up close did not help her process anything any better.
Cassandra turned to Lady Trevelyan, seeing the woman had gone pale and stiffened at the sight of the large hole above them.
"Thank the Maker you made it!" Leliana had come running, finally reaching the temple with her remaining scouts.
"Leliana," Cassandra said, turning away the noble for a moment, "set up your men around the temple." Leliana nodded and directed the order to her scouts, telling them exactly where to go. Cassandra then turned back to Lady Trevelyan. "Are you ready?"
Lady Trevelyan snapped out of her thoughts and looked to Cassandra. The pit in her stomach was keeping her from replying to the Seeker, but with another look at the Breach, she knew she needed to say something. "I'll try… But I'm not sure how you plan on getting me up there."
"No," Solas cut in, point a lean finger to the closed rift ahead. "This rift was the first, and it is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach."
"Then we need to find a way down," Cassandra said, pushing Lady Trevelyan along carefully.
Lady Trevelyan followed Cassandra through the rubble, passing by things growing out the walls. Some of it was lyrium, she knew, but it was strange. She had never seen red lyrium before.
"Seeker…" Varric practically sung, darting his eyes to the glowing red rocks as they passed. "You know this stuff is red lyrium."
"I see it, Varric," Cassandra nearly spat with a roll of her eyes.
"Yeah, but what's it doing here?"
Lady Trevelyan turned her head to look back over her shoulder, listening intently to the conversation.
"Something could have drawn on lyrium beneath the temple and corrupted it," Solas commented.
Varric clicked his tongue. "It's evil. Don't touch it."
Lady Trevelyan could not help but agree. She could feel the difference between this 'red lyrium' and normal lyrium. With no other words to describe it, she would say that this lyrium almost felt alive.
The group continued on their way, jumping down to the ground floor near the rift. As they stepped close enough, the mark on Lady Trevelyan's hand began to react to the rift, glowing and reacting in a strange way she had not felt before. A voice echoed through her ears, and it seemed she was not the only one who heard it judging by the way those around her stiffened. It was someone calling for help from her.
"That was Divine Justinia…" Cassandra said, eyes wide. She looked to Lady Trevelyan. "She was calling out to you." Her eyes went cold with suspicion. "What happened? Why was she calling to you?"
"I told you I don't remember," Lady Trevelyan snapped, shooting a glare to Cassandra.
The two women's attention turned to the elven mage when he spoke. "This rift is closed, albeit temporarily." He turned around, looking to Cassandra and Lady Trevelyan. "I think that with the mark, we can open the rift and close it properly. But this may cause attention from the other side."
"That means demons," Cassandra shouted to the scouts placed around the ruins, "stand ready!"
Lady Trevelyan sighed, shaking her head slightly. What had she gotten herself into? She looked to Solas, who seemed to have notice the noble's reluctance, and nodded to him, indicating she would agree to his plan. The scouts got into their places, and Varric, Solas, and Cassandra spread out, keeping a good distance from Lady Trevelyan. The noble looked to the mark on her hand, taking in a deep, shaky breath, before stretching out to the rift. The mark crackled and opened the rift. A large demon formed in front of Lady Trevelyan's eyes, making her fall stiff in her spot. It towered over her, laughing it seemed.
"Now!" Cassandra's shout to the scouts snapped Lady Trevelyan out of her trance, just in time to jump out of the way of the demon's arms. The demon slammed it's fist down on the ground, making the stones shake and crack. The scouts fired arrows, but very few pierced the tough shell. Cassandra charged forward, but her sword did little against the demon as well.
Lady Trevelyan spun her staff, slamming the end down against the ground, and summoned a lightning bolt. It did nothing, and seemed to just run of the demon's skin. The demon looked to Lady Trevelyan, mouth growing into a smile when seeing the look on the noble's face at realizing her attack did nothing. Lucky for her, she was not the only mage there.
The demon's feet froze to the ground, and the ice traveled up to freeze the rest of its body. The ice kept it immobile for only a moment, enough to get Lady Trevelyan a good distance away. The ice shattered, and the demon roared in fury. Just as it lunged to Solas, infuriated that he had heeded it's progress, the ground beneath the demon erupted, coating the demon in fire and sending a warm brush of air over everyone watching.
Lady Trevelyan leaned against her staff, breathing heavily, but pleased to see her attack had worked. The demon fell to the ground, still. But just as Lady Trevelyan figured she got a break, Cassandra shouted at her to close the rift. She stretched her marked hand to the rift and immediately felt something was wrong. The rift in front of her expanded, growing larger as the mark feed power into it, until it could not hold anymore. The rift above their heads exploded, sending everyone gathered off their feet, and caused Lady Trevelyan to fall back unconscious.
After this chapter, my personal ideas begin playing a part. I'm sorry for such the length in these chapters, I know many hate the beginning prologue (I, for one, do too after seeing it so many times).