Several weeks later Kaaras called for an all-out assault on Adamant Fortress, where the Grey Wardens were holed up, helping Corypheus build a demon army. They had to be stopped and it would take the whole of Inquisition forces to do so.

Cullen led the troops while Kaaras led all of his inner-circle, including Dorian and Anders. Anders was brought along because of his history with the Wardens, hoping that somehow he could talk some sense into them. Normally he would have been kept out of the fray, only healing the wounded, but today his knowledge of the Grey Wardens was actually more needed than his healing abilities. They met Hawke and Stroud at the gates and they also joined the company as they fought their way inside.

The group of them fought their way up into the very heart of Adamant Fortress. They approached the inner courtyard just after Clarel sacrificed yet another Warden for their misguided cause. Erimond noticed them first, shouting. "Stop them! We must complete the ritual!"

Kaaras approached the Wardens gathered, shouting up at the Warden Commander. "Clarel! If you complete that ritual you're doing exactly what Erimond wants!"

Erimond stepped forward. "What? Fighting the Blight?! Keeping the world safe from Darkspawn? Who wouldn't want that?!" the Magister said arrogantly. "And yes the ritual requires blood sacrifice. Hate me for that if you must! But do not hate the Wardens for doing their duty!"

Warden Commander Clarel stepped forward next. "We make the sacrifices that no one else will!" she cried. "Our warriors die proudly. For a world that will never thank them."

Stroud was about to speak but Anders walked forward instead, shouting. "And then he binds your mages to Corypheus!"

Warden Commander Clarel looked shocked. "Corypheus?! But he's dead!"

Erimond leaned in to Clarel. "These people will say anything to shake your confidence, Clarel!"

For a moment Clarel looked distressed and confused, rubbing her brow as if to ease a headache. Then she looked up and shouted to the Wardens. "Bring it through!"

The Warden mages around the rift in the center of the courtyard began releasing some sort of power and things in the rift began to shift.

Anders stepped further forward. "I fought alongside the Hero of Ferelden, Warden Commander of Ferelden! I helped her defeat the Architect and the Mother. We saved Amaranthine and Vigil's Keep. I also fought alongside Garret Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall," Anders looked at Hawke who blushed at the use of his title. "We faced Corypheus before. We even thought we'd killed him. Could you consider listening to us?!"

The rift continued to shift as horrific shrieks emanated from it. Erimond looked determined. "Be ready with the ritual Clarel! This demon is truly worthy of your strength!"

Kaaras shouted to Clarel. "Listen to me! I have no quarrel with the Wardens! I have spared those I could! I don't want to kill you but you're being used! And some of you know it, don't you?!"

One of the Wardens before them spoke up. "The mages who have done the ritual! They're not right. They were my friends but now they're like puppets on a string."

Clarel tried to interfere. "You cannot let fear sway your mind, Warden Chernov!"

Hawke stepped forward then. "He's not afraid! You are! You're afraid you ordered all these brave men and women to die for nothing!"

"If this were a fight against future Blights, I would be at your side!" Warden Stroud shouted. "But it's a lie!"

The gathered Wardens turned and looked expectantly at Clarel then. Erimond spoke to Clarel urgently. "Clarel, we have come so far! You're the only one who can do this!"

Clarel looked at the Magister. "Perhaps we can test the truth of these charges, to avoid more bloodshed."

Erimond's face twisted in anger. "Or perhaps I should bring in a more reliable ally!" Turning he began banging his staff against the stone floor. "My master thought you might come here Inquisitor! He sent me this to welcome you!"

At that a dragon appeared in the sky. The same dragon that had attacked them at Haven. It attacked spouting flame and fury, knocking into battlements and statues, sending them crumbling. Clarel backed away from Erimond then as the Magister puffed up his chest in arrogance. She began to realize the truth, albeit too late.

As the Dragon perched itself upon a battlement high above them, screeching, Clarel attacked Erimond with a powerful burst of magic. As the Magister lay writhing on the floor, he reached out his hand. "Clarel…wait!"

Clarel sent another burst of magic, this time at the dragon. The dragon retaliated with a burst of fire from its giant maw, knocking back the Warden Commander. Clarel scrambled to her feet as the dragon attacked again and she shouted to the Wardens. "Help the Inquisitor!" She ran, drawing the dragon away from them.

Kaaras began running after Clarel, but then demons started pouring out of the rift, including a Pride Demon. He whirled around and began attacking the demon closest to him. The rest of the party fought alongside the Wardens as they cut down demon after demon. Anders kept away from the fray as much as possible, healing those who needed it, and sending electricity shooting into any demon that dared come too close. Dorian, for the most part tried to keep a barrier in front of his lover while whirling fire and brimstone from his staff, cutting down demons left and right.

Anders barely had time to appreciate how absolutely fierce and utterly gorgeous Dorian was in the midst of battle, but his eyes darted towards the mage any spare moment he got.

Soon the demons were all taken down, including the formidable Pride Demon. Kaaras then shouted to his companions to follow him as he began running in the direction Clarel took off in. As they fought their way up through the fortress, they kept encountering the dragon, who was periodically sending fireballs in their direction, while still in pursuit of Clarel.

Anders was beginning to feel weary, not being used to battle on this scale anymore. Dorian noted him falling behind and came back and put his arm around Anders' shoulder to help him. "Come on, we need to keep up!"

Anders nodded and began to run faster to try and keep up with Kaaras and the others.

Eventually they made it to the top of the fortress only to run into Clarel as she was confronting Erimond. Erimond was shooting fireballs at the Warden Commander, but they dissipated harmlessly her barrier as she stalked towards the Tevinter Magister. "You! You've destroyed the Grey Wardens!" She attacked then, sending another powerful jolt of magic at the Magister, knocking him off his feet.

As Erimond struggled to right himself, he still maintained his arrogance. "You did that to yourself, stupid bitch!" The Magister looked up at the scowling Warden. "All I did was dangle a little power before your eyes. And you couldn't wait to get your hands bloody!"

Clarel snarled and sent another powerful blast at the Magister sending him skidding across the rough stone. Erimond actually groaned, writhing in pain, but refused to back down. "You could have served a new god!"

"I will never serve the Blight!" Clarel shouted.

Kaaras decided to start walking out towards Clarel then when suddenly the dragon dropped out of the sky and snatched Clarel up in its giant maw, making a sickening crunch as it chomped its jaws closed upon its prey before taking off again. The dragon circled above before landing upon a nearby tower and tossing the near lifeless body of Clarel at Kaaras' feet.

The dragon took flight again and then landed just behind Clarel, and began stalking towards Kaaras and his party. They backed away, slowly. Clarel was badly hurt but still conscious, as she began crawling away from the stalking beast, she began to recite the Warden's pledge. "In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance." The Dragon was nearly upon her then when she sent another powerful burst of magic at the dragon, causing the stone bridge they were on to crumble beneath her, sending Clarel and the dragon tumbling to the sharp rocks below.

Beside him, Dorian heard Anders say softly. "And in Death, Sacrifice." Before he had a chance to ponder the meaning, the rest of the bridge began to crumble beneath them. They began desperately to run as the bridge continued to crumble, faster than their feet could carry them. Before they knew it they were all falling, tumbling, Anders screamed, trying to reach out for the mage falling just above him. "Dorian!"

Then they were all surrounded by a bright green glow as Kaaras released energy from the mark upon his hand and they kept falling until they weren't. Instead they were floating for a moment and then impacted upon the…ground?

Anders groaned and looked around. Where were they? He slowly sat up and then started when he saw Dorian walking...above him.

Anders spotted Kaaras not far off and they slowly all righted themselves. "Where are we?" Kaaras asked. "We were falling…"

Looking around Anders began to realize where they were. "You…used your mark to open another rift. I think we fell through. I think we're in the Fade."

"How is that even possible?" Kaaras asked. "We seem to be in the Fade…physically?"

"Well they did say you stepped physically out of the Fade from a rift when they first found you," Varric reminded Kaaras.

"Yeah and I still don't remember anything about how that happened," he said shaking his head.

Once they were all gathered, they did a headcount. They seemed to all be there, and all in one piece, Kaaras, Varric, Dorian, Anders, Stroud and Hawke. Everyone lived. Anders was relieved at that, clinging to Dorian's arm trying to shake off the shock of nearly losing him.

They began making their way forward through the strange landscape until they encountered the spirit…or demon…masquerading as the Divine Justina. With "her" help, Kaaras recovered his memories and discovered how he came to have the mark upon his hand, along with another piece of the puzzle regarding Corypheus' plans.

The spirit then helped to guide them to the rift that would lead them back to Adamant, along the way having to deal with the taunts from the Nightmare demon. Dorian brushed off the insult of being mistaken for his father, having reconciled with the man recently took the edge off more than Nightmare had anticipated. When Nightmare tried to start in on Anders, Dorian purposely covered his lover's ears and shouted. "Don't even think about it, demon!"

The demon merely chuckled, a deep, rumbling laugh.

After what seemed like hours, they finally saw the rift they needed to go through to get back to Adamant Fortress. They began making their way towards it when they were cut off by a monstrous demon, that had taken the shape of a giant spider. The spirit that had been guiding them sacrificed itself in order to weaken Nightmare and enabled them to fight it off. Her last words were a message for Leliana. "I failed you, too."

Dorian and Varric began running towards the open rift, urged on by Anders and Kaaras. "Varric! Dorian! Run ahead, tell the others we're coming. Warn them to stand ready in case any demons come through with us!"

Kaaras, Anders, Hawke and Stroud were cut off by the Nightmare demon before they could get near the rift. It became clear that someone had to create a distraction, potentially sacrificing themselves. Kaaras knew he had to close this rift immediately after they made it through so if anyone remained behind, they'd effectively be trapped.

Hawke, Stroud and Anders were arguing as to who was the best choice to distract the Nightmare, Anders arguing the loudest. "Let me do this. I need to redeem myself for everything I've done. For the lives I ended. This is my chance to make up for what I did back in Kirkwall."

"No." Came a stern voice from behind them. Justice.

The spirit walked up to Anders, ignoring the others who stared at him, slack jawed.

"I was just as much to blame for those events," Justice said. "Perhaps even more so. I am a child of the Fade. I will distract Nightmare while you four get to safety. There isn't much time. Go and close that rift."

Anders shook his head. "No, Justice. I can't let you face this alone…"

"You can, and you will," Justice said sternly. "Now go and never let me see you here again. Go take care of that man you love."

Anders took in a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Justice. For everything."

Then Justice drew his blade and launched himself at Nightmare, distracting the beast while the others ran for the rift. Once they were all through, Kaaras sealed the rift quickly and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Dorian nearly knocked Anders over when he saw him, his eyes red rimmed from crying. Anders clung to him, hushing him and telling him it was alright. That they were all safe. Varric walked up to Hawke and gave the man a hug as well.

It was determined that the Wardens were to join the Inquisition and Stroud decided to make his way to Weisshaupt to report in about everything that had happened before taking on the role of Warden Commander as the senior Warden in both Orlais and Ferelden.

...

As they made the slow march back to Skyhold, Dorian said little, which for him was unusual. He was moody and aloof, mostly keeping to himself, distancing himself from everyone, including Anders. Anders wasn't sure what to make of it, but decided to let it go for now. He was there if Dorian decided he needed to talk.

Dorian's mood didn't seem to improve much after they got back to Skyhold. One evening after a long day tending to wounded in the clinic, Anders came back to their quarters only to find Dorian muttering about something, only to clam up as soon as he entered.

Anders sighed. This had gone on long enough now. "Dorian? What is going on? Please, talk to me."

Dorian looked at Anders for a long time before deciding to speak. "When we fell into the chasm, into the Fade. I thought you were done for. I don't know if I can forgive you for that," Dorian said almost with anger.

"Forgive me? We both fell into the Fade…together. We came out, together. We're both fine," Anders said defensively.

"I thought I'd lost you," Dorian began. "You sent me ahead, and then didn't follow. For a moment I was certain you wouldn't." An edge of anger began to creep into Dorian's voice. "I thought, this is it. This is where I finally lose him forever. Are you…alright?"

"Justice…saved us," Anders said quietly.

"Ah, it's as I thought," Dorian said. "The Fade is an ordeal under normal circumstances. To be the only real thing there…it's beyond description. That any of us made it out alive is difficult to believe. You do realize this feat hasn't been performed in over a thousand years. Corypheus and his contemporaries entered the Fade and began the Blights. In comparison…"

"At least you were at my side," Anders said, stepping closer to Dorian.

Dorian chuckled. "No offence but I almost rather I hadn't been," Dorian shrugged.

"No sense of adventure? That's surprising." Anders teased, closing the gap between them.

Dorian looked into Anders' eyes. "I've not your talent for survival."

Anders pulled Dorian to him. "I don't know; you've survived quite a lot already."

Dorian sighed and turned away. "This…ability Kaaras now possesses. To be able to physically enter the Fade? It's dangerous. There are too many fools out there who think they can solve all their problems with enough blood magic. This is exactly the kind of thing I want to go back to Tevinter to fix."

"You…want to go back?" Anders asked, concern in his voice.

Dorian hung his head. "Yes. I've been…thinking about it for a while now. All the good the Inquisition is doing here, that Kaaras is doing. It's inspired me to try and go back home and change things, if I can."

"When were you going to tell me?" Anders said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm not sure," Dorian said. "I didn't know how."

"Were you planning to just slip out in the middle of the night, not even saying goodbye?" Anders asked. "Because I hate to tell you…that's my modus operandi. You can't copy it."

A small smile appeared on Dorian's lips as he turned back towards Anders. "Well how's this then? Come with me. Please?"

Anders pulled Dorian into a full embrace then, whispering into the Tevinter's ear. "I'll follow you to the ends of Thedas."