A few nights later, they all were still at the Tilani family mansion for the party, all wearing formal attire. Once they were all in ballroom, they avoided staying around each other for too long as to not attract attention. Snow stayed with Dorian and Cullen, Maevaris stayed with Dorian, Azariah and Fiona simply talked to each other, while Luna, Bethany, Isabela, and Fenris talked to others.

About twenty minutes passed before someone came in with a few followers behind him, and it seemed like everything in the room went silent as he did.

"Presenting Aurelian Titus, senior member of the Magisterium." The announcer by the door said as he had entered. Aurelian was wearing an entirely black outfit with a black cape and a red sash tied around his waist.

Azariah was just about to walk over when Fiona stopped her by placing her hand on Azariah's shoulder, and whispered, "Easy…"

"Right." Azariah sighed, trying to contain her anger. She hadn't felt hatred like this since her fight with Rendon Howe.

Aurelian walked over to Maevaris and said, "Quite the assemblage you've gathered tonight, Tilani."

"Yes, I certainly think so." She agreed. "Nice of you to make it all the way from Minrathous."

Aurelian picked up a glass of wine from the tray that one of the slaves was carrying as she passed by him, and he held it up in an almost toasting manner to Maevaris. "I wouldn't have missed this; I would've been quite distressed had I not received an invitation."

'That's it!' Azariah thought and stormed over before Fiona could stop her again. "Aurelian Titus!"

"Do I know you?" He asked, even though he did know exactly who she was.

"I'm Azariah Theirin, and I know that you captured my husband!"

"Ah!" Aurelian said in understanding, and smirked, "The lovely "Hero of Ferelden" in the flesh! You came all this way looking for… your husband, did you say? Well, I'm sorry to say that I know very little about… Alistair, is it?"

"Stop playing coy! I know that you know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Now, now…" Maevaris said, stepping in between them. "There's no need to cause a scene." She glared at Azariah with a look that clearly said "stop".

"I am not one to ruin a party," Aurelian said. "But I believe a scene has already been caused. After all, it was quite rude of her to spout such an accusation, and she needs to be taught a lesson." He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, they were a pitch black color. "So, fall." He attempted to use blood magic on her, but was suddenly stopped when Azariah interrupted his magic with the templar skills that Alistair had taught her. Aurelian fell to his knees, and the whole room was dead silent for a moment.

"Do you have any idea what you've just done?" Dorian whispered to her angrily.

"A templar…" Aurelian growled and stood up, ordering to his men, "Kill her!"

Fighting broke out amongst Aurelian's men, Azariah, and everyone with her at the party, while the other guests just tried to get away. In all the commotion, Aurelian took this as an opportunity to leave, and Azariah caught a glimpse of him as he did. "He's getting away!" She called and tried to run after him, but was grabbed from behind by one of Aurelian's men and could've gotten seriously hurt had Isabela not come up behind the man and slit his throat, quickly and cleanly.

"Fight first, pursue after!" Isabela said to her as she put her back against Azariah's so that no one could sneak up behind either of them.

With all of them fighting, they quickly took down all of Aurelian's men, and Azariah used her sword, Starfang, to stab and kill the last of them. She then ran out of the ballroom and straight out the front doors, looking around frantically for Aurelian as soon as she was outside, and spotted him not too far away. "Hey!" She ran over and tried to catch him, but he suddenly was surrounded by a swirl of smoke and disappeared before she made it all the way over. She grinded to a stop and cursed, "Dammit!" She punched the wall closest to her. "Dammit! I was so fucking close!"

"Azariah!" Snow called as she and everyone else ran over to her.

"Where's Aurelian?" Fiona asked.

"…I lost him."

"You know this is your fault!" Dorian accused.

"How the fuck is this my fault?!" Azariah yelled.

"You used your templar abilities to interrupt his magic!"

"Yeah, and if I hadn't, he would've seriously injured, if not killed me! I defended myself!"

"Use your brain, Azariah!" He scolded, "You're in a country ruled by mages! Of course they're going to make it illegal to use southern templar abilities, especially against a magister! Why do you think it all went south after you did that?!"

"It's illegal to have southern templar abilities?" Azariah asked before sarcastically replying, "Well, that would have been a good thing to know, say… twenty minutes ago!"

"Both of you! Just stop!" Fiona yelled, and they both looked at her. "Look, Aurelian got away, but yelling at each other is not going to solve anything! The best thing we can do now is go to Minrathous and straight to his mansion! After all, he already knows we're here and that we're after him, so what's the point of discretion now?"

Azariah sighed deeply. "She's right, there's no point in hanging around here anymore, and there's no point in yelling at each other. We need to work together."

"How did he get away?" Luna asked.

"He surrounded himself in a smoke somehow and the next thing I knew, he was gone."

"Teleportation magic…" Fenris said. "That would explain why when we were searching around Alistair's carriage in the mountains, the footprints just disappeared! He brought Alistair straight to Tevinter, not needing a ship or anything!"

"Which means Alistair's been here for more than four weeks!" Bethany said, and Fenris nodded.

"All the more reason to leave now!" Azariah said.

"So, we're heading to Minrathous?" Varric asked, and turned to Maevaris. "Are you coming with us, Mae?"

"I can't, sorry. If you forgot, that is my mansion you all tore up back there, so I need to go back and make sure everything is fine."

"I'll send you coin for any damages." Azariah promised.

"No, that's alright." Maevaris smirked, seeming amused. "This was actually the best party I've thrown in a long time!"

"Good, glad we could spice things up for you!" Luna joked, and then looked back at Azariah, "Come on, we should go."

"Right. Thank you again for everything, Maevaris, but we really need to get to Minrathous as quickly as possible."

"Don't mention it. Any friends of Dorian and Varric are friends of mine!" She replied and waved to them as they ran off towards the docks.

When they all got to the docks, Azariah looked around and then turned to Isabela, "Isabela… is there any particular reason why your ship is gone?"

Isabela laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, about that… um… the crew was getting rather restless. After all, they're raiders, they're not used to ferrying people around, so I gave them leave to do a little raiding while we were here. I know Zev will keep them in line while I'm gone!" (Yes, Zevran is Isabela's first mate, since I didn't mention that before.)

"Well that's just great!" Azariah growled sarcastically. "Now how are we going to get to Minrathous?!"

Isabela looked around and gestured over to the stables, "They left your horses here."

"Riding all the way to Minrathous from here will take about three or four days." Dorian said. "Since we need to go all the way around the Nocen Sea."

"And how long would it have taken if we sailed?" Fiona asked.

"About a day."

"Isabela…" Azariah growled. "You remember how I promised you your weight in gold once Alistair was safe?"

"Yes?"

"Yeah, well, consider it now cut in half!" Azariah yelled and stormed passed her and over to the stables, which weren't that far away from the docks.

After they had saddled up their horses, and even borrowed a carriage from the stables to attach to a couple of them since there were a few extra people than horses, they set off for Minrathous.

After about a day's journey, they were all travelling down a dirt road through a large forested area, and things were pretty silent between all of them. There was a thick mist all around them, to the point where it was almost creepy, but they continued on. Azariah and her horse, Caramel, were at the back of the group when Azariah suddenly heard an all too familiar voice calling her. She pulled back on the reins, making Caramel stop and looked around, and from a distance, she heard it again. "Alistair?" She then saw a figure through the mists. "Alistair!" She got off Caramel and tied her to a branch, but Caramel let out a concerned neigh and stomped her hoof, trying to tell Azariah not to go. Azariah simply placed her hand against Caramel's nose and pet her calmly. "I'll be right back." Azariah then disappeared into the mists, despite Caramel's insistent whinnying.

Azariah went deeper into the mists and then heard Alistair's voice again, "Azariah!" The voice called. "Azariah, help me!"

"Alistair!" She saw his silhouette through the mists again. "Alistair!" She ran forward to try and catch him, but he then ran off. She stopped for a moment and was stunned that he'd just ran off, but when she saw him again further ahead, she ran towards him again. Unbeknownst to her, she was being led somewhere as another figure watched her from the shadows…

Meanwhile, back with everyone else, Fiona looked behind the group to check on Azariah like she had been every couple hours or so, but was shocked to see her gone. "Stop!" She cried, and everyone did just that.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Snow asked.

"Azariah's gone!"

"What?!" Luna cried and looked behind them, too. "That's impossible! Where did she go?!"

Fiona flicked the reins on her black horse and had it gallop back the way they came to see if she could find any trace of Azariah. She then had her horse make a hard stop when she found Caramel, who was desperately trying to get free of her reins that were tied to the branch. Fiona got off her horse and over to Caramel as she whinnied at her.

Everyone else caught up and Luna said, "Azariah can't be far if Caramel is here; she'd never abandon her."

Fiona untied Caramel's reins from the branch and she immediately took off in the direction that Azariah had, and Fiona hopped back on her horse. "Follow her!" She ordered and her horse did just that as everyone else tried to keep up.

Back with Azariah, she had followed Alistair's voice and silhouette all the way to a massive cave. She was hesitant to head inside, but when she heard his voice from in there, concern overthrew caution and she headed in. She found herself in a huge cavern that was lit up with what looked like giant blue gems. "Whoa…" She gasped, amazed. She was at the top of a massive, crumbling stairwell that descended far down into the cave; at the bottom, in a huge, open area, she saw Alistair standing there, and she ran down the stairs as fast as she could, and hugged him. "Alistair! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"You haven't yet." Another voice said, and Azariah whipped around to see a woman with jet black hair and bright yellow eyes, wearing a white faceplate with a red and black robe and matching cape; she also carried a staff with a skull tip. She then used her magic to suddenly make Alistair disappear, which shocked Azariah. "Sorry for the deception, dearie, but it was the only way to get you here."

"Who are you?!" Azariah demanded.

"You may call me Yavana, and you, my dear, are the famous Hero of Ferelden. You know my mother and sister quite well."

"Your mother and sister?"

"You know them as Flemeth and Morrigan."

"You're Morrigan's sister? That's impossible! All of Morrigan's sisters were eventually possessed by Flemeth!"

Yavana laughed. "Is that what Morrigan told you? Ah, how little she knows!"

Azariah glared at her. "What do you want?!"

Yavana glanced up at the walls around them as a high dragon suddenly appeared out of nowhere and growled at Azariah, but Yavana's touch seemed to calm it. She then answered Azariah's question, "What I have always wanted." She turned back to Azariah. "You came here looking for your husband, Alistair, who was kidnapped by Aurelian Titus just as his father, Maric, had been."

"You seem to know an awful lot…" Azariah said as she glared at Yavana skeptically.

"Information is a weapon, a tool… an advantage, if you will."

"What advantage? What are you hoping to get from me?"

"Your husband."

"What?! Why do you want Alistair?!"

"You don't even know how much power his blood holds, do you?"

"His blood? What in Andraste's name are talking about?! Just give me a straight answer!"

Yavana almost looked like she was weighing her options before she did provide Azariah with an answer. She raised her staff to gesture around them. "Do you know what this place is? It's called the Hall of Sleepers. When dragons were nearly extinguished from this world, the builders of this place called the few that remained. The dragons that came here would rest for generations… until awoken by power. Power that I ultimately provided. I awakened a few, the very few who had not died in their sleep, and they were the first dragons to roam the land in many ages, but the last of the great ones… is still beyond my reach."

"This is all very fascinating, but what does it have to do with Alistair?"

"When Maric left for Tevinter, he first went to Antiva and met me. I was bringing him here when Aurelian caught wind of my plan somehow and captured Maric as soon as we crossed the border."

"Again, you're not telling me what this has to do with Alistair!"

"What I'm telling you is that the blood of Calanhad the Great – first King of Ferelden – flowed through Maric's veins, as it does with Alistair, also. That blood called to my queen of dragons and awoke her."

"How?"

"Blood is power – it connects us, as you are no doubt aware, and Calanhad was no ordinary warrior. He was a reaver, a man who took the blood of dragon into himself to increase his own power. That gave him the strength he needed to unite Ferelden under one rule, his. That power has flown through the Theirin blood ever since." Yavana walked closer to Azariah. "I couldn't get Maric's blood to awaken the last of the Great Dragons, and he's most likely dead by now. However, I can help you find your husband and get him back from Aurelian, but in return… you need to hand him over to me."

Azariah took a step back. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to agree to that! I'm going after Alistair to free him so we can be together again!"

Yavana scoffed. "So, what? You're doing this for love?"

"Yes. Is that so hard to believe?"

"I was hoping you might see the bigger picture. What is one life compared to that of the entire world?"

"How would awakening the last of these "Great Dragons" be a benefit to the world? Dragons are dangerous, deadly creatures! As I see it, they would be a hazard!"

Yavana growled, "Typical. Mankind always seeks to destroy what it doesn't understand, I seek to preserve, and I had hoped that the great Hero of Ferelden would see things differently." She took out her staff. "I was hoping to avoid this, but if you're not going to be an asset…" Her staff brimmed with magic. "Then you're a liability."

Azariah took out her sword right before someone called her name and the two of them looked to see Fiona running down the stairwell and over to her. "Fiona, what are you doing here?"

"We all came to look for you! Why did you run off?" She then saw Yavana. "And who's this?"

"Fiona…" Yavana said, and then smirked. "Ah, you're Alistair's mother, and the descendant of the last King of Arlathan."

"What?!" Fiona asked. "I'm not some elven royal!"

"Again, time seems to erase history itself, and how easily we come to believe what's not true."

"Enough with your mind games!" Azariah yelled. "You're not getting Alistair through her, either!"

"Getting Alistair?" Fiona asked.

"Yes! She wants to get her hands on Alistair to perform some ritual in using his blood to awaken the last "Great Dragon" sleeping here."

Fiona took out her staff. "Yeah, that's not going to happen!"

"You're both fools!" Yavana yelled, and threw a huge fireball at them, but they dodged it by diving in different directions.

Yavana's dragon roared angrily and tried to take a bite out of them, but they dodged its teeth, too.

Back up near the entrance, everyone else had just entered to see what was happening, and Luna looked around, then got an idea. She quickly whispered her idea to Snow who nodded in agreement and Luna started climbing the wall towards the dragon.

"Luna! What are you doing?!" Fenris cried.

"Relax! I got this!" When Luna was right above the dragon, she yelled, "Snow, now!"

Snow used her bow to fire an arrow straight at the dragon and got her right in the eye, causing it to roar in anger and pain. While it was distracted, Luna dropped down from the ceiling and onto her neck before taking out one of her daggers and burying it deep in the dragon's neck, severing an artery. The dragon roared one last time before falling to the ground, and Luna had jumped off right before it landed.

"No!" Yavana cried right before feeling a pain in her stomach. Azariah had suddenly rushed forward while she was distracted and buried her sword right through her. Azariah then tore her sword out and Yavana fell forward, blood spilling from her wound and out of her mouth as it also dripped down Azariah's blade. "This "Great Dragon" will just have to keep resting." Azariah said to the now lifeless body of Yavana before leaving the cave, and everyone followed her.

"Are you okay?" Varric asked as they left.

"I'll be alright, but thanks for asking. Now, let's not let anything else slow us down, huh? Let's get to Minrathous and kill Aurelian; it's the least that bastard deserves."

"We're all right behind you, every step of the way!" Luna smiled at her.

Azariah smiled back. "Thank you."

––

Well, there it is! Chapter 4! This was a fun one to write, and I hope you all enjoy it! Also, the idea that Fiona is really descended from the last King of Arlathan was an idea that just came to me out of nowhere, and I thought it would make a good plot twist!

See you all in the next chapter! We're coming to a head!