Passing Without Possession

"Riley?" a voice muttered in the darkness stirring the sleeping mage who refused to be disturbed, "Riley."

The voice became more aggressive and the more that they spoke her name the more irritate she grew. She was moments away from throwing a fireball at the intruders face, but she could recognize the sound of their voice. It had to have been someone that she knew for most of her life. Someone that she could trust with her own life if it depended on it.

"What do you want Jowan?" she grumbled into her pillow not wanting to shed light on her eyes that have known darkness for the last few hours.

"I'm just glad that you're alright. You've been asleep for nearly half a day now and your little elf boy was growing worried. He was too afraid to come and wake you himself when some of the other ladies told him what happens when people wake you up."

"I'm not that bad," Riley grumbled as she peeled herself off of the sheets into a seated position on the edge of the bed. She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to be rid of the tiredness. Slowly her vision adjusted to the light and she was able to see that the chambers were entirely empty besides Jowan and herself.

"Where is everyone?"
"They've all gone to class or to lunch," Jowan smiled, "Everyone was glad to see that you came back in one piece after your last escape, but when the templars brought you back you were out cold. No one could wake you up."

"Has it really been that long?"
"I'm afraid so. They've also pushed your harrowing up."

"What are you talking about?"

"They want you to perform the ritual today, Riley. They need you upstairs as soon as you're ready."

Riley's eyes widened. She knew that this would mean that there would be no escaping from here on out. She would be chained to this tower for the rest of her life. There was no way of her escaping the templars anymore. The ball attached to the chain wrapped around her ankle grew large enough to where she would not be able to carry the weight of it behind her any longer.

"Well, shit," was all Riley could muster as she slowly made her way to the washrooms to prepare herself for the harrowing.

"Good luck, Riley!" Jaegan grinned as he made his way down the stairs with one of the senior mages who taught basic literature classes. The whole way down the stairs he waved his hands in a ridiculous motion that earned a grin from Riley as she waved back to him in exchange.

"Are you ready for this?" Gregior grumbled not wanting to deal with the runaway mage any longer.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," Riley shrugged her shoulders not wanting to show how nervous she was about the whole thing.

Her eyes wandered around the room and she recognized a familiar face standing in the crowd. She smiled in his direction causing his face to turn a light shade of pink as he smiled in return. She knew that the templar fancied her, and she couldn't deny the fact that he was quite handsome. However, their unity would mean that there would be no order any longer in the tower with a templar falling in love with a mage.

She sighed as she walked up to the pedestal filled with Lyrium to begin her harrowing ritual. Gazing into the puddle of pure Lyrium she saw her reflection which resembled that of a child. Her vision began to grow dark and before she knew it her world completely changed.

"You may call me mouse," a tiny little rodent spoke as Riley began to approach after taking down a fade wolf.

"What are you?" Riley's eyebrows furrowed as she glanced down at the creature unsure of what to think of the beast.

"I am simply a mage turned mouse," the creature spoke as a white light enveloped it to reveal a man with flowing hair that resembled the color of a carrot freshly picked from a garden.

"That's weird. I've never seen magic like that before," Riley eyed the man unsure of what to think of him, "I'm not sure if I can trust you or not."

"Good. That's the way that you need to treat everything when it comes to the fade," the man spoke in a stern tone, "you need to defeat the demon that resides in this realm in order to be free from the damned ritual without being possessed."

"And how do I know that this is true?"
"I partook in this ritual a long, long time ago. I know what the demon looks like and I know that I just told you not to trust anything in the fade but what else are you going to do here? Walk around until you figure out what your purpose for being in here is?"
"I suppose you're right. If you're wrong however I could just as easily take you out."

"Fair enough. Let's get this over with."

The two set out on the way to the lair in which the demon of this realm resided. Riley knew that she could handle whatever it was that this demon had to throw at her. There was no way that she was going to go down without a fight. She had a little boy to look out for and a close friend waiting for her on the other side. She couldn't abandon them due to a moment of weakness in the fade. This place wasn't reality and it wasn't going to stop her.

Mouse began to protest when she approached the lair without the assistance of the other spirits that resided in this realm. She simply laughed and shrugged his comments off. Lava began to pour from a section of the ground. Hands coated in the substance shot out of the puddle that continued to grow that pulled the body of a rage demon up above the ground. It's deep laughed echoed throughout the fade. Riley had never seen a rage demon personally and she could feel the heat radiating off of the demon.

"Insolent fool. You will never best me!" the rage demon cackled as he released flames from his hands that singed the ground around him.

Riley snickered as she conjured up a spell of an ice prison that trapped the demon. He howled as he attempted to break himself free, but alas the elements were not on his side. There would be no escaping for him. With another blast of ice the rage demon was finished and his lackeys that began crawling in made their way out of the battlefield for fear of their own lives.

"Was this test supposed to be this easy?" Riley panted when she realized how much magic she had actually used in that fight. In the moment it hadn't seemed like much but once it was over she felt like a ton of bricks were resting on her chest.

"You did it," mouse looked to Riley in disbelief, "you actually did it. Oh my, you are a hero!"

"Hero?" Riley raised an eyebrow to his comment.

"Now that that demon is slain I can leave this place, but only if you allow me to hitch a ride out of here."

"What are you proposing?"
"I will simply attach myself to you and once I find a body that I can stay in since mine is long gone. They won't even notice that I'm apart of you."

"I'm beginning to wonder if that first demon was actually the test."

"What are you trying to say—" Mouse began to sound offended when a sinister smirk overcame his features, "well done. Simple killing is a warrior's job. The real dangers of the Fade are preconceptions... careless trust... pride. Keep your wits about you, mage. True tests... never end."

With that mouse floated up in the air transforming into what Riley could only assume was a pride demon. She was shocked to see the size of the monster that stood before her. She was honestly worried that she wouldn't be able to defeat a demon of this size all on her own. She stood her ground when she was surprised to see that everything was fading to white.

"Did— did I pass the test?"

Hey all! I appreciate all of you taking the time to read my story, and enjoy it hopefully. If you have any feedback or would like to add anything please don't hesitate! I will try and keep these chapters up to date and upload chapters as soon as I finish them. Thank you all for being so wonderful! :)