The flames in the enemy mage's hand grew white-hot, and with a yell of exertion she flung the globe at the rock Ariane was using for cover.

Ariane ducked, but before the fireball could make impact a pale-blue wall flickered into being in front of her. The projectile hit the transparent barrier and exploded harmlessly on the other side, although the blast of heat made her flinch.

Finn crawled to her side, face pale with the exertion of maintaining the shield. His hands sparked with electricity – some kind of retaliation, Ariane hoped.

This was the best chance for a charge she was going to get. Dog, clearly having the same thought (she would never get over how intelligent the Mabari was), crouched at her feet, the muscles in his huge shoulders bunched.

She opened her mouth to tell Finn her intentions, but before she could speak the bombardment from the enemy mages abruptly stopped. Ariane risked another glance over the rocks.

The three mages appeared to be having some kind of an argument. Their heads were bent together, and one of them was gesticulating wildly.

Finally, they seemed to come to some kind of agreement. One figure, clearly the leader, began to approach. A battered-looking wooden staff smoked slightly in her hand.

'Lay down your weapons!' the woman barked in a hoarse voice.

'I can't!' Finn shrieked back, holding up his crackling hands. Ariane slowly lowered her swords, keeping her grip firm on the hilts.

The mage leader was close enough for Ariane to see in detail now. She was older than Ariane had expected; middle-aged and stocky, with unruly greying hair pulled back into a severe bun and a well-worn frown stuck on her face. She didn't wear mage robes, and her rough-spun workers clothes looked serviceable, but worn.

'Is that-' the woman said, anger shifting to surprise as she spotted Finn, still holding his hands over his head. 'Finn? Finn Aldebrant?'

'Um. I think so?' squeaked Finn, looking helplessly at Ariane for advice.

Ariane glared at the approaching mage woman, who was now flanked by a twitchy elf girl and a square-jawed, scowling human. Dog snarled and she put one hand out to stop him from charging, although her instincts told her to do the same. If the mages were this hostile, she would have to just give up on the book.

'Yes!' Finn finally decided. 'Yes! Please don't kill us!'

The older woman didn't smile exactly, but the lines around her mouth lessened somewhat. 'Maker.' She frowned at the other two, who were still holding weapons at the ready. The young man looked particularly murderous. 'Relax, you,' she said sharply to him. Grudgingly, he lowered his staff, keeping his eyes fixed on Ariane's blades.

The leader, arms crossed, assessed the pair of them. Ariane felt distinctly uncomfortable as the woman's sharp dark eyes took in her weapons and pack, as well as her Dalish armour. Finally the mage woman put her hands on her hips and addressed Finn, who seemed to have suddenly found his feet fascinating. 'Didn't expect to see you again.'

Finn tore his eyes from the ground, and recognition flickered in his eyes. His face broke into a wide grin or relief. With his face streaked with soot, the effect was slightly deranged. 'Oh, it's you! I mean, Senior Enchanter. I mean...' He turned to Ariane and indicated the humourless mage. 'This is Senior Enchanter Nikea, Ariane. '

'Just Nikea now,' said the woman, studying Ariane unblinkingly. Her voice betrayed a slight accent. 'You're one of the Dalish,' Nikea observed.

'So it would seem.' Ariane would never understand the human need to state the obvious. Dog shifted uncomfortably, obviously wishing he could just attack. She could identify.

Nikea flicked her eyes to the scorched earth. 'What the hell did you do?' she asked Finn, scowling.

'I was thinking of asking you the same.' Ariane answered coldly. Finn shrugged helplessly at the older mage.

Nikea looked surprised. 'We didn't do this. These are our people.' The elf girl was wide-eyed, the human mage looked enraged.

'What?' asked Finn, looking baffled. He studied the rock Ariane had ducked behind when the fireball exploded. That rock was scarcely damaged, Ariane realized, whereas the boulders in the crater were lumpy as misshapen. Whatever had made the crater had been capable of melting stone. 'Was there some kind of infighting, or an accident, or-'

'Blackpowder,' Nikea answered shortly.

Ariane's heart stopped. She had heard of the intensely dangerous chemical, but few had ever seen it in action – and most of those who had were dead.

'There are Qunari here?' Finn yelped.

Nikea's voice was grim. 'Outcasts, trading with the Templar Order.' She examined the charred bones again. 'Rytel said it was happening,' she mused, 'but I didn't want to believe him. '

'But – the Chantry wouldn't use blackpowder!' Finn objected. 'Would they?' he asked Ariane in a smaller voice, sounding less certain.

'The evidence would seem to disagree.' Privately, Ariane would put nothing past the Templars – but these mages hardly seemed like a viable alternative. The sooner this was over the better.

'Not many Templars care what the Chantry thinks anymore,' Nikea explained. 'When the Nevarran Accord was declared null, most of them preferred to stick with their order over their church.' The name was unfamiliar to Ariane, but at its mention Finn looked horrified.

'Looks like there's nothing we can do here,' the woman told her followers. She turned back to them. 'Why are you here, Finn?' she asked, voice softening slightly.

'I wanted to help?' Finn offered in a squeaky voice. 'With, you know. Being a rebel. And stuff. Blowing up Templars? Not with blackpowder, though,' he added hastily with an alarmed look at the crater.

'Don't you have somewhere else to go?' Nikea asked.

After a pause, Finn shook his head slowly. She sighed. 'What about you?' she said, eyes flicking to Ariane, who had started to feel invisible. She took in Ariane's longswords and the angry Mabari in front of her. 'You're no mage.'

Well spotted, Ariane though acidly. Instead she tried to come up with a reason why she would be so interested in mage rights. The Dalish were hardly known for their political involvement.

'Templars took our Keeper,' she said finally. The woman's eyebrows raised. 'I wanted to...' Ariane's voice trailed off. Between the two of them, why couldn't one of them have been good with words? What she wouldn't give for some of the Warden's easy charisma. Everyone had listened to him.

Despite Ariane's discomfort, her awkward explanation seemed to satisfy Nikea somewhat. The older woman gave her a last questioning look, then turned in the direction of the looming Tower.

'Come on, then. You'll have to speak to Rytel. He chooses who's welcome in the Tower these days.'


'So what was the Nevarran Record?' Ariane asked Finn quietly as their small dingy approached the doors of the Circle Tower. The Tower – Finn had informed her that its proper name was Kinloch Hold, but she couldn't think of it as anything but the Tower – was even taller than it had looked from a distance. The idea of being that high in the air made her dizzy, and Nikea's two assistants were still glaring at her sullenly. Talking would mask her nervousness, she hoped.

It didn't help that she had been forced to leave Dog outside for the second time in as many days. The mages had refused to let the Mabari on the boat, claiming that he would only be a danger in the castle. Dog had whined in confusion when she told him to wait by the docks. He had been in the mage tower at least once before – he probably thought there were still people he knew in there. She hoped he would forgive her eventually.

'Nevarran Accord,' Finn corrected. If anything, he seemed even more agitated than she felt. He picked at a loose thread in his sleeve, unravelling it into a long trail. 'It's the document that binds the Templars and the Seekers to the Chantry. It's...'

He swallowed hard. 'I knew they had broken off, but I had no idea it was so official. That means the Order leaders must have agreed they needed to separate from the Divine.' His tone made it clear how massive this was.

Ariane leaned forwards, confused. 'But there were Templars where you – at the Chantry in Lothering,' she corrected hastily, noticing Nikea watching them. 'I saw them. '

'There are some holdouts, of course,' Nikea interjected in her raspy voice. Their tiny boat pulled up to the docks, and the two assistants jumped out and roped it to the narrow pier. Ariane stood to help, but a glare from the man put her back in her seat. 'Just like the mages who still hide in the Chantry,' Nikea continued. Was Ariane being paranoid, or did the other mage give Finn a significant look? 'Hoping everything will blow away overnight, and go back to the way it was.' She snorted with derision.

Ariane climbed ably out of the boat; Finn followed her more awkwardly. The five of them started up the steps to the imposing iron doors of the Tower.

'So – the Seekers are no longer with the Chantry either?' she asked. That was a disturbing thought – when she was being interviewed, she had assumed it was under the scrutiny of the Chantry. If the Seekers were free to do as they wanted, she was lucky she had made it out at all.

She shuddered to think of what a trial run exclusively under Seeker authority might be like. Her resolve to ensure Finn ended up safe strengthened.

'They 'enforce the will of the Maker as they see fit'.' The male mage – Ariane had yet to learn his name- spoke for the first time. His rough country accent was increased by the scorn in his voice. 'Usually they see fit to murder everything in sight.'

As they approached the heavy stone walls, Nikea whispered a password Ariane couldn't make out. The massive doors groaned on their hinges, and slowly swung open of their own accord.

Ariane jumped when they moved, but Finn didn't even appear to notice. Through the gaping arch, she could see the vaguely familiar sight of the entrance hall.

'Oh, it's...' Finn touched the dingy wall as they entered, staring around the cavernous room.

The floor was scored with gouges from blade strikes, and the once-smooth stone walls were pitted with holes. Ariane thought of the kind of struggle that must have gone on to cause that kind of damage and shivered again. The Templars expulsion from the Tower must not have been as bloodless as Finn seemed to believe.

'Different,' said Nikea, passing through the bashed-in door into the corridor beyond. 'I know.'

More people scampered along the dim hallway; all dressed much the same as Nikea was. Ariane felt incongruous in her armour, but Finn in his mage robes seemed to be earning more attention from the rebel mages. Not that he noticed – she noted with some concern that his eyes were huge in his dirty face, and his mouth was still hanging open. He stopped to run a hand along a wall where a tapestry had clearly once hung – the wall behind was still paler. His lips moved wordlessly. Ariane gently took his arm and led him along so he wouldn't fall behind.

'You'll need to speak to Rytel, then,' said Nikea. She seemed unaware of either of their distress – or possibly she was attempting to be polite by not pointing it out. Ariane didn't think she would ever be able to tell this woman's moods.

Nikea's eyes ran over their filthy clothes and the trail of dirt they were leaving in their wake. 'Although you may wish to bathe, first,' she added. Was Ariane seeing things, or was there a hint of a smile on her face?

'Yes please,' said Finn fervently. He attempted to wipe his face on his sleeve, somehow making both items even dirtier in the process.

Ariane longed to clean up as well, but she was still tense. 'Who is Rytel?' she murmured to Finn, hoping Nikea wouldn't hear.

'No idea,' he answered quietly. 'Must be new.' He indicated Nikea. 'I didn't expect to see her here either; she's from the Anderfels. She visited for a year once. I'm surprised she remembered me.'

Ariane was stunned. 'That's miles and miles.' Impossibly far away, in her mind. Why would Nikea come here?

They entered the vast circular central room. A small group of mages stopped chattering to stare at them in disbelief. Ariane stared back, unblinking, but a sharp glance from Nikea got the mages moving again. Nikea gestured at the stairs, and turned to the young elven mage. 'Enalla, find somewhere for these two to sleep for now.' She regarded Finn, considering. 'If I recall correctly, your room has been reoccupied, but we'll fit you in somewhere.'

With a curt nod, she swept off across the room. Her male assistant, after a brief pause, followed.

Ariane followed Enalla, who refused to speak to either of them, up the winding stone stairs. Exhaustion hit her in a wave, and she wondered if there would be time to sleep before they were interrogated – as she was certain would happen – by the leader of the rebel mages. She felt dead on her feet.

Trudging after Enalla, she wondered how she would ever find her clan's book in this enormous place. When she had been here with the Warden the size had seemed almost comical – just another strange obsession of the shemlan. Now it was just one more thing that was too big for her to understand.

Her clan had better bloody appreciate this.


Thank-you again for reading! This chaper ran a bit long, so I split it in two (and cut out a big section I realized was totally unnecessary).

Again, if you have time, please leave a review! I am editing and rewriting a lot of this story as I post it, and I really appreciate any advice.