Chapter 3-Corrupt

How is he not DEAD yet?

Hawke's thought was echoed in a cry of frustration as the creature, formally First Enchanter Orsino, continued to thrash about, knocking her friends to the ground.

The mage gritted her teeth, knowing there wasn't another option. She took a deep breath and ran at full speed toward the beast, and thrust herself upwards towards it. Hawke grabbed a hold of one of the dangling limbs near the head. She gripped her trusty dagger, and thrust it into the creature's left eye. It screamed a hideous wail, and Hawke viciously stabbed it again.

Then, like lightening, an idea struck her. She grabbed hold of the rotting gray flesh, pulling its limbs, stretching and twisting them with all of her might. She grunted and gasped, feeling the muscles in her arms burn with the effort.

SNAP.

The sound ended with Hawke flying back to the ground, along with the slithering head of the monster. It flopped madly on the stone floor for a moment. Hawke quickly stood, and moved toward it. Without hesitation, she slammed her foot into its head, grinding it into a pulp.

Although it had stopped moving, Hawke remained still, frozen in place. Her breaths were ragged; blood and sweat mixing to fall on her lips. She tasted the salt and iron in her, and it brought the memory she had been fighting the entire battle.

"I was wondering when you'd show up. Leandra was so sure you'd come for her." The thin, quiet voice grated on Hawke's already frazzled nerves. She wasn't in the mood to play games.

"Where is she?" she growled. She heard Fenris and Varric draw their weapons. Anders remained eerily still, staring in confusion, at the silhouette of a woman in a chair, behind the elder mage.

"You will never understand my purpose," the thin voice dropped to a menacing pitch. "Your mother was chosen because she was special. And now she is part of something...greater."

"Spare me the demented rambling. Where is she?"

He merely smiled as if she were a young child, failing to understand her own question.

"She is here, she is waiting for you," he tilted his head back to the woman in the chair. The figure remained as still as stone.

He turned to Hawke and her companions again. "I have done the impossible. I have touched the face of the Maker and lived!"

Hawke shook her head in disbelief, and looked to Anders for help. Anders simply shook his head, indicating he was just as baffled as she was. Before either could get another word in, Quentin continued his rantings.

"Do you know what the strongest force in the universe is? Love." The last word lingered on his lips, as the wore a demented smile. He walked closely to the chair where the woman sat, still immobile.

"I pieced her together from memory. I found her eyes, her skin, her delicate fingers. And at last, her face. Oh, this beautiful face," Hawke felt a twisting of her stomach, as she head those words. Suddenly, the figure in the chair rose clumsily, staggering to her feet, moving to turn toward the group. Quentin continued to ramble.

"I've searched far and wide to find you again, beloved. And no force on this earth will part us!"

Hawke's heart dropped to her stomach when she saw the distorted parody of her mother's face contorted in a silent scream. Her jaw dropped as she saw what was once her mother stagger and wobble, on legs not her own. The gasps behind her did not register. She was on fire with rage.

Quentin meanwhile, had taken advantage of the party's shock and horror, to summon shades and skeletons. Hawke's fury ignited and she spun toward their attackers, setting them ablaze with both fire and lightening. Fenris and Varric had to duck out of the way as she tore into their foes with wild abandon. Anders stood frozen for a moment in utter disbelief, unwilling to see what magic had done.

And while the battle wore on, Leandra stared back at them, with empty, hollow eyes.

"Serena...Serena, ENOUGH!"

Hawke felt strong hands gripping her from behind, pulling her away from the now disintegrated head. She struggled against the tight grip, wanting to hit, punch, zap her way out of her past, out of her memories.

She felt herself being shaken roughly, and then being turned toward Carver. His blue eyes pleaded with her, shining with tears of understanding. "Sister, enough."

Hawke shook her head slowly, refusing to let the tears come. The silence in the room was only broken by shifting armor and heavy breathing from her companions. Calm and collected once more, she gently removed herself from Carver's hold and moved to inspect the party of injuries again.

Aveline's eyes were closed tight in pain, as Anders moved his hands over a head wound. Blood ran down her cheeks and her face was pale. At her elbow, Merrill was holding the warrior's waist to help steady her. A bruise was blossoming on the blood mage's face, from where she had been hurled to the floor by the creature. Varric was in a corner, already drinking a potion to help soothe the pain from taking an arrow to the knee. She then glanced at Fenris, who was sporting a bloody lip, but was otherwise fine. They shared a brief, burning look before she turned her gaze back to Carver, who seemed to be the only one that was untouched.

"I suppose this was easy in comparison to darkspawn, you being a Grey Warden and all," she said, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Serena, you don't have to do that," Carver murmured.

Hawke just looked at him and smiled sadly, "Yes, I do Carver."

She looked back at her group and gave them a crooked smile. "Alright everyone, make sure you take a potion if injured. I need everyone to pull it together one last time."

Anders finished healing Aveline, and the rest of them swallowed as many potions as they could. Each turned toward her, grim lines of determination set in their faces. She felt a flicker of her former rage when her eyes fell on Anders. The minute he saw the flames back in her eyes, instead of looking down in shame, he met her gaze, an open request for compassion and understanding. Hawke forced herself to look away. Grabbing her staff, she turned and started to march out into the Gallows' courtyard.

"Let us greet the Knight Commander."

"And here we are Champion, at long last," Meredith sneered as Hawke and her party approached.

Hawke glared at the armored woman, and retorted, "You'll pay for what you've done here."

Meredith's eyes flashed with intense hatred. Her sneer turned into a grim smile.

"I will be rewarded for what I've done here. In this world and the next!" Hawke felt Anders next to her, clutching his staff tighter. Fenris was at her other side, sword already drawn. She switched her focus back to the Knight Commander as she continued ranting.

"I have done nothing but perform my duty. What happens to you know is your own doing," Meredith finished.

Suddenly, there was a shift in the Templars collective mood. Some glanced at each other questioningly through the slit of their helms, murmuring discontent. Cullen then stepped forward to face the Knight Commander.

"Knight Commander, I thought we had intended to arrest the champion," Cullen struggled to keep his tone neutral.

Meredith's eyes narrowed, "You will do as I command Cullen." A brief moment of stunned silence followed.

"No!" Cullen's booming voice rang out in the courtyard, "I defended you when Thrask started whispering you were mad. But this is too far."

"I will not allow insubordination! We must stay true to our path!" Meredith quickly unsheathed her sword from her back. As she did so, the blade burst into a red light, settling in a bright glow. At the sight of it, Varric gasped and nearly dropped Bianca. Hawke felt her mouth go dry, and her eyes became fixated on the sword.

Meredith's mouth turned upwards into an evil grin, "You recognize it, do you not? Pure lyrium, taken from the Deep Roads. The dwarf charged a great deal for his prize." The last words lingered on her tongue, lashing out directly to Hawke and her group.

Hawke held up her arm to block Varric from charging straight into the Knight Commander. With her heart thumping in her ears, she attempted to handle the matter with her usual sense of calm.

"The idol poisoned Bartrand's mind in the end," Hawke's quiet voice was low, and gentle. It failed to do as she intended.

"He was weak whereas I am not!" Meredith spit back.

She turned to her troop of Templars and barked, "All of you I want her dead!" She thrust the tip of her sword toward Hawke, causing the mage to take a step back.

Cullen intervened once more, "Enough! This not what the order stands for! Knight Commander step down. I relieve you of your command." His voice was firm and bold, the rest of the Templars already looking his way for direction.

Meredith's eyes widened in disbelief. "My own knight captain prays to the influence of blood magic."

And with that realization, Hawke saw the last bit of humanity in the Knight Commander snap, lost in her madness. Meredith began waving her sword in every direction, each thrust wielding her accusation.

"You all have! You are all weak, allowing the mages to control your minds to turn you against me.

But I don't need any of you! I will protect the city myself!"

The knight captain had enough. He drew his sword, blocking the enraged woman from Hawke and her party. "You have to go through me," Cullen raised his sword to his superior, his face impassive.

"Idiot boy. Just like all the others," Meredith's face lowered, her eyes dark with anger.

"She's clearly lost her mind," Anders voice carried a slight tone of surprise, as if he didn't even realize how far his foe had gone. Hawke was just about to turn to him and tell him to be quiet, when a loud CRACK had her head spinning back around.

Meredith had buried the tip of her sword into the stone ground, bursts of red light coiling around her. Burning wind and crackling rushed through the courtyard, setting everyone into a mild panic.

Except Hawke.

She stared down at the kneeling woman, staff in hand and started to move toward her. Then, without warning, she stood, and swung her sword outward.

"Blessed are those who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and do not falter!"

Hawke's body reacted before her mind did. She dove out of the way as Meredith's blade bore down upon her. She felt the thrill of the warm metal graze her sleeve, barely missing her. She crashed into the ground, but was on her feet in a second. She took a breath, and tried to work everything out in slow motion.

Meredith was coming at her again, seeing no on else but her. The Templars were all in shock, save for Cullen, as he began shouting orders. Her party was scattered around, each trying their best to reach her before Meredith did. As the Templar got closer, Hawke raised her staff to meet the red blade. In the distance, as the pressure of the sword met the staff, she caught a glimpse of dark green eyes widening in fear. She refocused her attention to the blade.

Meredith was stronger than she was,so Hawke tilted her staff to the right and let the blade slide, throwing the Templar off balance. Whipping her staff back, Hawke sent a Mind Blast that struck the former Knight Commander in the back. It barely nudged her. Instead, the heavily armored foe pivoted forward and slammed her arm into Hawke's face. The mage fell once more to the ground, her head striking the stone. For a moment, she felt as if she was blind, a blackness overtaking her. Then, a warm glow radiated in her chest, and she felt herself being revived. She opened her eyes in time to see the red sword bearing down upon her. She quickly rolled to the left, once again barely missing the blow.

She staggered to her feet, glancing to her left as she saw Anders by her side, a green light fading from his hands. Hawke refused to meet his eyes, and instead cast a series of lightening bolts to rain down on the enemy. Meredith screamed out in agonized ire, but was met with more blades and arrows from Hawke's companions and rest of the Templars.

Varric was shooting from Bianca nonstop, and the three warriors had surrounded the fearsome woman, diving in to find her weak points. Cullen's orders were obeyed, and the Templars had also employed their skills.

Meredith unexpectedly sank to her knees. Hawke rushed forward, staff raised high, ready to cast another spell. The glowing blade slide from Meredith's grasp, clattering down in a hollow echo. Thinking the battle over Hawke inched closer to accept her enemy's defeat.

She discovered she was wrong.

Meredith struggled to her feet, eyes glowing red, gasping out her desperate mantra.

"Maker your servant begs you for the strength to defeat this evil!" she bellowed into the Gallows.

And with those haunting words, Hawke knew the battle had just begun.

A/N:

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was one of the most difficult ones to write, considering I had to constantly reference videos and research certain dialogue points.

Now, the reason it took so long, is because my sinus infection decided to hang around for, well, EVER. I'm still not at 100% but I am getting there. I really am sorry this took so long-half of it has been done for a month, but I couldn't bear to bring my eyes to the computer screen with a pounding headache and searing nose pain. Ick.

I wanted this to be in Hawke's 3rd person POV, to further the emotional process she is going through. I know it seems like it is dragging, but I need to set this up for the future chapters.

Now that I mostly passed a lot of game dialogue, I am hoping it will take less time to write chapters. The next chapter will hopefully be up sooner than this one! :)

Please read and review!

~Seras Novia

PS: Hope some of you got the pop culture references I sneaked in there.