A/N And here's another chapter for you all. :)

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Ok, so... I got lost. Not just a few feet off to the point I just need to back-track, I fell down a hill on my way back and was knocked out when I hit some rocks.

I wake up with a terrible pain in my forehead and rub the slight bump there as I sit up. "Oh... god I hate getting hurt." Looking around I see I'm surrounded by nothing but trees. "Oh shit..." Panic starts to settle in before I trip over something and look down to gasp in surprise. A corpse, moderately rotted, lays there half-crushed by a large rock. "That is not good..." I kneel down and take a breath before searching though the person's pockets. I find about three silver and a banged up dagger that has a note tied to it. I untie it after noticing how the poor bastard's armor is caved inwards in multiple areas.

Poor waste of life...

Reading the small letter I frown, and read it again, and again. "That son of a bitch!" It outlines that he had stolen guild supplies from the Blackstone Irregulars and tried to join the Templar order to absolve his crimes, he was denied so he fled.

The rest is jumbled but one could guess that he tried to flee into the wilds and ended up here.

I look down and around the rocks, and find nothing. I double-check the body and still, nothing. Looking around for any hiding spaces, grateful for the small distraction, I surprisingly find an intact barrel hidden in a hollowed out tree trunk ten paces away. I pry it open with a Dar'Misu and find it full of intact papers. I look at a few and can't understand them.

Probably encrypted.

I reseal it and pick the small barrel up to carry it back to the dead body. When I get back I stop a few feet off and stare at the wolf sitting patiently by the corpse with two others nearby in the shadows.

What the hell?

I set the barrel down behind a tree and carefully weigh the options before stepping out and standing within five meters of it. I keep my hand on my sword as it looks up at me curiously. I swallow and out of desperation I whisper, "Fen-falon?" It... smiles?

Holy crap I think that was a smile!

I let go of the hilt of my Dar'Missan and kneel down as it approaches. I don't have anything to give it so I let it lick my palm before I scratch the wild dog behind the ears. "Fen-falon-" I mutter casually as I pet him. He looks up at me and blinks. "-emma isala arla." (-I am in need of home.) It nods slightly and turns to start off into the forest but stops at the edge to turn and wait for me.

This is interesting.

I look up and see the sun has almost set, I'd have to sleep here if I don't follow.

I'm not fond of trying to survive another night in the woods.

I walk behind the tree and stuff the small barrel into my pack before running back to find the wolf still there with it's...

I'll just call them lieutenants.

I nod and signal that I'm ready to go. It turns and steps at a moderate pace in one direction into the forest and I follow close behind.

One or two hours later I'm at the edge of the forest and looking out in the moonlight at Lothering. I turn to the wolf and bow, "Ma serannas fen-falon." It bows as well before turning with its lieutenants and doubling back to the wilds, howling out at their success.

That was the weirdest experience ever. They actually protected me from a few bears that crossed our path, one just ran away and the other's hide is in my pack. It'll be a nice decoration or mat for my room.

I step down from the forest and manage to keep my balance as I slide down the small hill and end up in the clearing just outside Lothering. Walking back into town I find it pretty much abandoned, no-one walking about, no-one talking incessantly about this or that, even Chanter Devin went to bed. I cross the bridge and climb up to my room before dropping my pack onto the table and passing out on the floor in exhaustion.

I wake up with a headache and aching limbs from dehydration and lack of nourishment. "Oh..." Staggering outside, I take a few minutes to get down the ladder before carefully stepping into the tavern, not looking around at all and sitting down at the bar.

"You look pretty beat up friend." I nod and wave for him to get my order without looking up.

God... I know what starving feels like but this just feels like death for some reason.

He drops the stew with a hunk of bread in it in front of me and I instantly devour it hungrily. Literally chugging my ale in seconds before sitting up and finally rubbing my sleep away. Opening my eyes I gasp as I see a demon standing in front of me, hidden behind the bartender's shape, but I can see it plainly. "What's wrong friend?" It says in a half-human half-demonic voice. I swallow.

Oh man this is the Fade isn't it?

I look around and everything seems slightly blurry, a bit off, or completely wrong.

The bard is HANGING from the ceiling for the love of the Creators!

I look back to him and decide to play along for a bit, especially since I'm unarmed. "It's just- nothing, no I'm fine. Just a bit tired from last night." He nods and steps over to pour another demon a drink.

Ok, so I need to get back to my room and get my weapons, then I fight them off and try to wake up.

I stand up and step casually towards the door, the bartender steps into my way, "Where are you going?" He asks in shock.

"Back to my room, I need to get something." I respond normally.

The demon looks around for a moment before stepping aside and letting me pass. At this point I see it's a demon of hunger.

Well, that explains the feeling then.

I open the door and everything flashes. Instantly I'm back in my room and there's a woman sitting at the table. She looks up as I approach, "Oh good, you're back!" She jumps up and hugs me.

Oh, well this is just great, they think I like Erianne.

I separate from her and she kisses me on the lips, running her hands over my arms and sides as she does. I don't get into it and just let her do it for about... four minutes, give or take. Before she starts undressing and I grab her hands, "No." I state forcefully. She stares in shock at me before tearing up.

Not going to fall for that Demon.

"No, you have a family, a husband, I will not ruin their lives for a moment of peace." I state with a hint of false pride.

The desire demon pouts before sighing and leaving. I groan at how annoying the Demons have been so far before grabbing my armor and weapons to walk out.

What the hell...

And into another area at a flash of light. "Seriously?" I mutter while looking around at the royal palace, or at least the Landsmeet area from the game. I walk past nobles without faces that silently watch and murmur to each other while I approach the throne, which is empty. I sit down at the behest of myself.

"Husband, the people wish to hear you speak." Looking to my right I see Anora standing there, smiling at me, and I burst out laughing. She frowns, and I laugh some more.

"Oh, by the Creators!" I shout in a mock-speech while wiping a tear from my eye. "Let there be cake! For those who dwell in the shadows can go fuck themselves!" I spread my arms wide and burst out laughing again.

"Husband, my king, your ignorance is unbecoming and rude, please speak properly when addressing the people!" Anora scolds, failing to chastise my good spirits.

I take a complete one-eighty and growl at her while stabbing a dagger into her chest, the look of shock on her face was priceless... "I know this is a ruse demon, now come and face me properly or leave to deal with the weak-minded fools of Thedas. I will not be tricked!" Everything deteriorates around me and I look around at the true Fade, twisted features, impossible architecture (at least to this world, the Protheans had some stuff like this), fuzzy outlines, just like from the game(s).

"You are stronger than I could have imagined dreamer." I turn and find the four meter tall pride demon staring at me, mouth agape, massive muscles nearly tearing it's skin apart, one hand is literally the size of my body.

To quote Varric... Holy shit...

"I didn't come here without being prepared Demon." I retort, trying to keep myself from stepping back in fear.

It mutters something before saying, "I have a proposition for you."

I sigh and lean back casually against a metal structure beside me in false boredom, "Very well, speak your proposal."

"I can augment your power, gift you with the control of raw Fade energy just as your friend, Pause, has failed to do." I mock-yawn. "And in return I see the mortal realm through new-"

I hold up my hand to cut off his rambling. "I have the power you half-whit. I can feel it now, I am not in the Fade when I'm awake, therefore it's impossible to 'gift' me with something that is not possible to give. Also, I personally think you would be a bad actor, I saw your hand twitch when you said 'control' now be gone!" I wave my hand and surprisingly a wave of green and purple energy banishes him from the area. I look down at my hands in shock before shrugging and looking around for something to do until I wake up.

After wandering for a bit I find a library of a sort and pick up the first book I see, 'How to cast Arcane Bolt'. "Huh." I flip through a few pages and notice it's actually full of exact knowledge required to cast Arcane Bolt. I put it in my pack and take a few minutes to collect five or six books on various spells and bonuses to mana regeneration. I even find a book on how to heal magically.

After ten or twelve minutes I grab my pack, now heavy with books, and walk over to a small reading area in the corner. I skim through a fire-training book before casting a small flame that lights the candle nearby. I smile at it and sit down in the leather chair to read up on how to better control my pyrotechnic abilities...

Hours later I close the book and feel a strange nagging feeling around me. I shrug and open up the book on Arcane Bolt as I ignore the feeling. "Oh, ok so I just need to control my mana better to cast stronger or more precise spells. Huh, I'll test it out when I wake up."

Another set of hour later and I have a severe headache from the now agitating feeling around me. I set the second book off to the side and stand up to immediately fall to the ground and pass out.

I breath in and groan at the hard surface pressing into my face as I wake up. "Oh man." I shake my head and look around to see I'm awake... I think.

How can I test it?

I stand and step outside to see be blinded by the sharp light. "Holy mother of..." I rub my eyes and blink until they adjust to see Lothering bustling with dozens of people as usual, birds flying about, people chatting, even a small patrol of soldiers passing through from the wilds.

Yep, I'm definitely awake.

I back into my room and sit down at the table, going over all of what happened last night.

Ok, hunger, desire, then pride, then I was in the actual Fade and read some-

I blink and frown before trying to cast a small flame to light a candle I've never used in the corner. It flickers to life and I grin. "Oh that is just awesome!" I nearly shout.

Oh man, is that how it is for all mages? Read up on some spells in your sleep and you wake up to practice what you learned? I doubt it's THAT easy.

Suddenly I remember the wolves from the forest and look at my pack, remembering the barrel. "I guess I should return it."

Downstairs I open up my pack and hand the barrel to the Blackstone Irregular representative, he thanks me and hands me thirty silver. I turn and eat the same as before at the bar, not meeting the bartender's eye, lest I remember last night and freak out.

I stop by Miriam's afterwards and ask her what happened while I was gone on 'personal business'. "Well, nothing strange. Just the usual, a few farmers need help with rats again, some sister was caught sleeping around with a patron at the inn, you know how it is." I snort a laugh. "Anyways, I was wondering where you had gone yesterday, does that scratch have anything to do with it?" I reach up and cringe at the bleeding bump on my forehead. I simply nod and she tsk's. "You adventurers. Always getting into trouble at the worst times, come with me and we'll get that cleaned up." She applies some salve and poultice to my injury before we set up our stations and start up the next lesson... antidotes.

I wave to her in thanks again and step outside of the shop just as it's getting dark out. "Huh, I never knew spindleweed leaves were a cure to spider venom AND a potent poison when purified. Surprising." I have my evening meal and hum along with the lively bunch of drunken farmers that usually wander in around midnight before going back to my room to properly pass out, pack and all.

This time in the Fade I'm not tempted by demons at all, no illusions, no problems, just me sitting in solitude, reading through a few manuals on ice magic to counter my tenacity for setting things on fire when I'm excited. It's surprisingly more difficult.

Wait, I have to- Huh, and the ice won't...

I frown and reread the sentence three more times before finally getting what it means and moving on to the next one.

This goes on for the entire night until I simply close my eyes while halfway through the ice magic book and wake up in my bed, fully refreshed but completely lacking any ability to cast ice at will. The most I can do is a small puff of frost that couldn't even be used to cool down a hot beverage. I was a bit disappointed in that.

You win some, you lose some.

On the contrary, my fire spell is getting easier to control, just one bit by bit. Right now I can boil water without feeling like I'm going to burst into flames so it's going alright I guess. I'm weary of casting anything too large during the day since the Templars patrol the streets between dawn and sunset. "You'd think they'd also have a night patrol but nope, they all go to sleep like the rest of us." I mutter while brewing up another vial of anti-venom from the spindleweed leaves I found in the bottom of my pack. After I finish I eat my breakfast and go to Miriam's shop to talk about my ideas on poultices and potions.

That night I set up my station in my room around midnight after double-checking that the Templars went to bed and start my work.

Miriam liked my idea of a Restoration Poultice and gave me permission to use her stock for my experiments as long as I share my findings.

I stir the flask of spindleweed potion carefully, trying to see if it's ready for the boil. I deem it alright and hold it up while casting a small flame under it. The liquid bubbles from the direct heat source and moments later most of the water has boiled out, leaving the paste I wanted. I set it aside and do the same with a flask of elfroot before taking a spoon and scooping out five spoons of elfroot and three of spindleweed, with different spoons of course. I mix them together and put the mushy yellow-green paste into a flask of it's own before adding water. I stir it properly and pour a small bit into a vial before boiling the vial's water out completely with the candle's flame and dumping the small lump of light green paste into a bowl. I do the same thing with different water amounts still present all the way up to just a pouring from the main flask itself. "Ok, so how am I going to do this..." I think about it before taking my dagger and cutting a line down my palm and applying the first completely dehydrated paste to it. I bite-back a curse as it stings like a mother fucker but heals the cut none the less, no resulting invigoration. I note it in the journal Miriam gave me to record in and keep going through the line of ten.

Hours later, and after swearing multiple times at the burning sensation on my skin, I finally find one that has a slight tingling feeling that I'll assume is invigoration while not completely burning the skin on contact.

Or maybe my palm is just numb now.

I switch palms and find its the same on that one as well.

I look at the concentration and it's at about 60% hydrat-

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

I Jump out of my seat, throwing my chair back as someone bangs on my door. I grab at my Dar'Missan quickly and ask wearingly, "Who is it?" My heartbeat is going a hundred miles a minute.

Is it the Templars? Have they found me? What do I do? Do I fight? Do I run? Do I-

"Open up!" A woman shouts before I hear a sniffling sound from behind the barred door.

Wait... what?

I carefully unbar the door and it flies open and I'm grabbed by someone. I stagger back in a panic and fall on my ass as moonlight floods into the room. "Get off of-" I freeze as I find Erianne laying on-top of me, sobbing.

Wha-?

I bring both of us to our feet and sit her in a chair before closing and baring the door again just in case. "Erianne what are you doing here? How did you even find me?" I ask softly, completely surprised.

She sniffles and looks up, eyes puffy and red, she'd been crying for a while. "I-I didn't know where else to go!"

I pull up a spare chair from the corner and pull the candle over to get a better look at her. I gasp as I see her face is cut up and her neck has a hand-shaped bruise on it. "Who did this to you?" I ask in horror.

She bursts into tears and I hold her, feeling conflicted emotions of rage and compassion all the while. "He did this!" She holds me tight as she sobs and I have to grind my teeth to keep myself from crying as well.

Damn my oversensitive empathy!

I fail and a tear rolls down my face. I pull back after a moment to look her in the eye, "We can talk about it after I clean you up ok?" She just nods, wiping her petite nose onto her sleeve as she shakes in despair.

Poor girl.

I turn and look over the alchemy station to see if I had any regular poultice left, thankfully there's a small bit of the tin left, just enough to close up the cuts on her face and maybe layer her thin neck. I gently lift up her chin and dab the cool salve to her skin. She stares through me as I do so, mind lost and unfocused.

She's reliving it, like I used to during my first two lives, I can tell by her twitching jaw.

I snap my fingers and she focus on me, "Hey, hey, look at me, focus on me, he can't hurt you anymore. I want you to stay focused on me from now on, you understand?"

She tears up and sniffles before nodding. I take a bit more salve and dab a few more cuts on her cheeks. "Thank you." She whispers after a moment.

I smile, "No need Lethallan, I'm always here to help." She sniffles and frowns at the strange word. I clarify as I finish up the cuts on her face and go to rub the rest on her bruised neck gently, "Lethallan, it means cousin or clan-mate. It's used to represent people you care for more than just Falon, just friends." She blushes through her tears and I stutter out an explanation, "N-not like that! It's between love and friendship, just think about it like... how you love your mother." Her blush drops, and so do her shoulders and head slightly.

Man, are all elves so expressive with their body language?

"But I'm open to getting you know you better, see where this go-" I remember her family and blink. "Wait, aren't you married?" I ask with a raised eyebrow as I stop my dabbing for a moment to look her in the eye.

She stares at me before looking away, "I... Aren isn't mine if you want to know. Owen... cheated on me after we left the Alienage in Highever."

Oh, I'm going to beat his skull in with a Dar'Misu!

I bar my teeth in disgust, "He cheated on you? Wait, how did Aren come to be with you?"

She winces at my anger and I cover her fidgeting hands with one of my own, "The- the whore was a Chantry sister and sh- she didn't want to keep the child, 'her father would have killed it' Owen had said." I catch the malice in her soft voice as she speaks. "We brought it with us, how could we abandon a child?" She shakes her head, "He's six and a half now and every time I look at him I'm reminded of how easily Owen cheated." She tears up. "How- *sniff* How he shouted that it was MY fault for not being his whore!" She bursts into tears again and I hold her, seriously close to hunting down Owen and slicing his throat for all the pain he's caused. "Aren doesn't even like me! He hates me! He cried whenever I held him as a babe and still pushes me away when I hug him!" She sobs heavier.

I can throw him to the wolves I know and they can get rid of the body, Aren can be adopted by the Chantry and Erianne can finally be free of this nightmare by selling off their entire cart of supplies. She could go somewhere and start over.

...

Did I really just put together a plan to kill a man and get away with it in under two minutes? Whatever, I blame gaming.

"I-I... I can't live like this anymore!" She cries out through her sobs. I rub her back and sigh shakily, my own emotions nearly too much for me to hold back.

"Did he do this?" I ask, knowing the answer already. She simply nods into my shoulder as she sniffles. I growl out darkly, causing her to yelp in surprise. "Where is he?" I ask, my eyes definitely in 'murder mode' by now.

She stares at me with her wide chocolate-brown eyes incredulously, "Y-you want t-to kill him?!"

I check my plan, throat, wolves, Chantry, sell cart, new life. "Yep, I got a plan to give you a new life." I say confidently. She just sniffles in shock. "You do want him to pay for this right?"

She bites her lower lip and nods, "I don't want Aren to be hurt though! Maker knows he doesn't deserve Owen as a father, but he deserves a normal life at least!"

"He will, in the Chantry." I state bluntly. She blinks in confusion. I explain, "He gets adopted as a new recruit in the Chantry and has a life full of devotion and purpose, not deceit and false promises."

She sniffles, "And you think we can get away with killing Owen? He's a master duelist!"

Wait what?

"We? Wait, master duelist?! What?!

She nods, "I want to help, make sure he gets what he deserves and you'll need me, he's one tough son of a whore." I blink at her in shock. "I'm a good shot with a bow, I-I can do some moderate poisons. I'm pretty good at sneaking..."

"Erianne-" I start.

"Please! Please let me help! I'll do anything to see it when that sick bastard finally dies!"

I hold her by the shoulders, "You're committed to this?" I ask, staring into her eyes intently, wondering if she, or I for that matter, could do this.

A Master Duelist... Fuck my life...

She nods, her tears gone and resolve entwining with the natural fury in her eyes, "I want to murder that piece of crap." She nearly growls out.

"Alright then." I smile. "You know I never thought I'd say this but lets go murder a master duelist!" She smirks and kisses my cheek before standing, "I'll get my gear and meet you back here in a bit, I have some things I need to wrap up."

I catch her by the arm, "Be careful, he's going to be desperate if he sees you armed, he might end up doing something he'll regret."

She plucks her thin but wiry arm out of my light grasp and saunters silently to the door before unbarring it and looking back, "Don't worry, I know how to skin a pig." and she's gone. The door closes and I sit back in the dim light, mulling over what I just promised.

To kill a wicked man and give two people a second chance at life, and destroy a family in the process... Ok maybe I'll just justify it AFTER I slice his throat and feed him to the wolves. Huh, now I know where that saying comes from, 'fed to the wolves' go figure.

I think about how else we could prepare and check how much deathroot I grabbed from Miriam's shop.

Two roots, that should work. Well, I hope it'll work, a master fucking duelist?! Creators my luck just went from shitty to awesome to apocalyptic within three days!

I quickly brush my experiment to the side and take a clean flask of water, working quickly to brew two doses of deathroot extract.

The door flies open an hour later and I quickly put out my flame and stare at Erianne in shock as she carries in a large trunk and throws it on the bed, flattening the hay mattress. "There, everything I own. I'm ready." She shuts and bars the door before looking over at what I'm doing. "Uh, you have an Alchemy station here?" She asks in surprise.

I just nod before shaking my head clear and going back to stirring the thick half-flask worth of concentrated deathroot extract carefully. "Yeah, if you know how to, you can help out by cutting up the other deathroot for me, I need to add it into the mix, I'm shooting for a sludge-like substance to coat our weapons in. You said he's a master duelist?" She nods. "This'll give us the edge we need."

I've decided normal poison isn't going to be enough, this'll be just strong enough to slow him down if we can't catch him off-guard.

She sits down and I notice she's wearing full Dalish Leather armor without the helmet, her long brown air pooling around her shoulders and cascading down her back in light curls. She notices me staring and blushes. I do as well and go back to the brew.

I'll think about that when I'm not handling dangerous poisons.

I lift the flask and frown at the muddy liquid. "Damn it, I'll need to dehydrate it."

She looks over as I reach for the candle and shakes her head, "No that won't do, you need to boil it quickly at a high temperature to get the naturally poisonous oils out."

I look at her before sighing, "Ok, but I need to ask you something first. What's your stance on the Circle?" She frowns, "The Circle of Magi."

Her thin brown eyebrows raise up as she thinks for a moment. "My brother was a mage, I didn't like it when he was taken and I don't really understand why they need to be locked up."

"Good." I light a flame and she gasps. I ignore her stare and quickly boil the poison, weary of how the glass seems to warp at the intense heating.

This thing had better not shatter!

I finish boiling it down and quickly pour it into another flask before casting frost onto the bottom of the warped one, it cracks but doesn't shatter thankfully.

Oh thank the creators...

"Y-you're a mage?!" She yelps.

I cover her mouth and shush her. "Quiet! The Templars might be asleep but others might not be!"

She blinks before nodding in understanding. I pull my glove back to reveal her smirk, "Maker, I never expected that! But I guess it does make alchemy much easier if you can just cast away some heat and cold- whatever."

I nod and take the bits she cut up one by one to grind them into a powder and add to the steaming flask of poison.

Ok, that's done. What else could I make? We'll need all the edge we can get.

"Hey, can you grab the spindleweed leaves from my pack? They're brownish-red with golden veins." She nods and starts digging through my pack.

"Here, there's three but they're kind of dried out." She hands me them and I smile, they still had their red hue.

"Perfect, hand me the pure water over there and another bowl." She does and I grind them up before adding a small bit of water to it and boiling out the natural coagulant inside the leaves. I decide to explain it to her, "Spindleweed leaves have a red hue because of a toxin that they use to keep animals from eating them in nature. This toxin... I guess you could say it rots the blood, makes it thick and difficult to pump, maybe even clot inside arteries." Her eyebrows shoot up. "Yeah, powerful stuff, it's deadly but only if it gets into the bloodstream directly, so aim for the arteries when using it."

She smiles, "Wow, that's a good thing to know and very useful!"

"Yeah, tell that to children that like to chew on them for the numbing agent in the stems." I mutter with disdain.

She gulps at the implication.

I focus myself and get to work on the higher-level poison. I boil, stir, crush, stir, boil, crush, stir, boil, boil, rehydrate, boil, crush, stir, and finally boil the small half-vial amount of the poison to the first stage before doing it again, and again until all that remains is a vial of poison brewed to relative perfection, determined by the sharp red hue to the clear liquid inside the vial. "There's a good chance that we can beat him if we can hit him with this first."

She takes an arrow out of her quiver, "I'll hit him with this, you said a critical shot and he'll be beatable?"

I nod, "He might be beatable, if he's a master duelist then he might just dodge the arrow and we'd end up screwed. How good is he?"

She looks off into the distance, "You know that Chantry sister whose Aren's real mother?"

"Yeah?" I raise an eyebrow in question.

"Her father was one of the best warriors in Highever, quick as a rabbit." I watch her as she looks at me with a blank expression, "Owen killed him in under half a minute."

I gulp, "Yeah we definitely need this. I'll distract him while you get the shot, try for his neck. If it hits the leather it might smear off before the arrow pierces his skin." I shake the vile a bit and look at our one hope that sits in a vial the size of my pinky finger. "How good a shot are you?"

She scoffs, "Please, my mother taught me all she knew and she could take down a flying bird at a thousand paces with one shot. She WAS Dalish after all."

I snort a laugh, "I hope so, we're going to need it." I mutter quietly as we quickly start brewing a few health potions, pushing to finish up a few before dawn's first light.

A/N And we introduce a plot twist. Darien is a sucker for the 'damsel in distress' bit isn't he. Find out how it goes in the next chapter! ;)