[A/N – I started this adventure expecting to wrap up in a single extended chapter but as the story began to unfold I decided to break it into two. So, this time around dear readers, you get a double portion of Mere Mortals. (I try not to leave cliffhangers – ugh.) Thanks to all who are reading, following and making this a favorite. Special appreciation to those who are reviewing. I am grateful for your feedback. To the guests who review please know I'm thankful for you and I wish I could reply via PM as I do registered readers. I hope you all enjoy this post!]

Chapter 7 – Days of Future Past

Redcliffe Castle was one of the most imposing edifices Sian had ever seen. The enormous stronghold sat high on a stone foundation, its iron-bound doors protected by a heavy portcullis and flanking towers. Fortified by archer's turrets overlooking the approach, its courtyard was surrounded by thick walls with dense crenelated battlements. Surrounding the entire structure was a deep mote of redirected lake water reinforced by stonework ramparts. But, despite its formidable constitution, there appeared to be no troops stationed on the walls or in the courtyard within.

"Impressive." The Herald marveled at the architecture as she, Solas and Cassandra entered the fortress unchallenged. She'd realized it was defensible, but was amazed as she surveyed it up close. "It rivals Fort Drakon."

"It is old. I wonder what dreams one may find here." Solas seemed interested as well. "I understand that it has only ever fallen from within."

"That is true. Connor's story illustrates the point." Pivoting, Cassandra took several steps backwards to check behind them, then turned to Sian. "Odd that there are no guards in the gatehouse. I do not like it."

"Neither do I. But we knew it was a trap." Sian squinted and gestured to the open portcullis ahead. "I suspect that monstrosity will close the minute we pass through the keep doors. Makes me truly grateful that Leliana is on our side. Let's hope she's not delayed."

"Agreed." Cassandra nodded as they cleared the last of the stairway to the keep entrance. "Shall we see what lies within?"

Squaring her shoulders, The Herald straightened to her full height. Back erect, she led them into an elaborately decorated foyer, replete with the eye of the Maker embedded in the heavy timbers of the doors. Four Venatori stood at the foot of the stairs to the throne room staring at the new arrivals. After a long minute of waiting for the guards to welcome or escort them further, Sian became impatient. "Announce us!" She tersely commanded them.

Alexius's steward descended the stairs. "The Magister's invitation was for the Herald alone. The rest will wait here." His tone was insistent.

"Unacceptable." Sian responded bluntly. "Where I go – they go."

The steward stared at Sian seeming to consider engagement in a battle of wills. Wisely, he acquiesced. Nodding, he led them to the throne room with the guards trailing the party. "My Lord Magister. The Agents of the Inquisition have arrived."

As they entered, Alexius was indolently lounging on Arl Teagan's throne. Upon their approach he stood, attentive, hands spread wide in welcome, his voice slippery as oil. "My friend. It's so good to see you again… and your associates – of course. I'm sure we can work out some arrangement that is equitable to all parties."

"Are we mages to have no voice in deciding our fate?" Fiona stepped to Sian's side, her husky voice penetrating and intense as she addressed the Magister.

Impatiently, he chided her. "Fiona, you would not have turned your followers over to my care if you did not trust me with their lives."

For a moment Sian considered the mage, somehow she seemed more aware, less dulled than she had at the Gull and Lantern. "If the Grand Enchanter wishes to be part of these talks, then I welcome her as a guest of the Inquisition."

Fiona managed to look chagrined and grateful at the same time. "Thank you."

"Very well." Sighing indulgently, the Magister returned to his seat, casually crossing his legs. "The Inquisition needs mages to close the breach and I have them. So, what shall you offer in exchange?"

Sian pursed her lips. She valued true diplomacy – but this was a mockery. She knew full well that Alexius had no intent to negotiate and neither did she. All she really needed to do was stall him. Tucking her thumbs in her belt, she levelly answered. "In light of the fact that you would prefer me dead, how about – I let you keep your life and return home in peace? I'd say that was fair, wouldn't you?"

A short laugh burst from the Magister's lips. "You are presumptuous. But you are also quite right. Though when it comes to bargaining for life, the onus is on you."

Felix swiftly stepped from behind the throne, his face tense. "She knows everything, Father."

"Felix? What have you done?" Alexius shook his head in disbelief.

Sian crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Your son is concerned that you're involved in something terrible."

"So says the thief. Do you think you can turn my son against me?" Nostrils flared, Alexius slapped his grip on the edge of an ornate throne rest and stood up. As he spoke his tongue dripped with venom. "You walk into my stronghold with your stolen mark, a gift you don't even understand and think you're in control? You're nothing but a mistake."

"This -." Sian gestured, sweeping her arm in an arc about the room, "is not your stronghold. You evicted the rightful owner, remember?" Nonchalantly, she continued. "As to the Mark. If you know so much – enlighten me. Tell me of its purpose."

"Hah!" The Magister barked. "It belongs to your betters. You wouldn't even begin to understand its purpose."

The Magister's only son eased toward him, his voice a plea. "Father, listen to yourself. Do you know what you sound like?"

As Alexius looked over his shoulder, grimacing, Dorian emerged from a darkened alcove into the throne room. "He sounds like the villainous cliché everyone expects from Tevinter's mages."

"Dorian." Alexius's head swiveled to address his former pupil. "I gave you a chance to be a part of this – you turned me down. The Elder One has power you would not believe. He will raise the Imperium from its own ashes. He will raise us to the greatness we deserve."

With Dorian's arrival, Sian knew Leliana and her agents would soon follow. She only needed to distract the Magister for a bit longer. Tensing her jaw, she drilled him, her eyes flashing. "Is that who you serve, the one who killed the Divine? Is he a mage?"

"Soon he will become a god." Alexius lectured, his tone reverential. "He will make the world bow to mages once more. We will rule from the Boric Ocean to the Frozen Seas."

"We knew nothing of this Elder One!" Hearing this plan for the first time set Fiona's defiance ablaze. "You can't involve my people in this!"

"Alexius." Dorian's face colored with trepidation, as he stepped next to Sian. "This is exactly what you and I talked about never wanting to happen. Why would you support this?"

Felix added his desperate voice in support of his friend. Urgently, he made his request. "Stop it, Father. Give up the Venatori. Let the southern mages fight the Breach and let us go home."

The Magister's eyes and voice were sorrowful. "No. It's the only way, Felix. He can save you."

Alexius's son gazed gently at his father. "Save me?"

Restive, the Magister enlightened him. "There is a way. The Elder One promised. If I undo the mistake from the Temple –"

"I'm going to die. You need to accept that." Felix cut him off with a resigned sigh.

Pointing at Sian, Alexius stalked to the edge of the dais and issued his orders as several more troops made an appearance. "Seize them, Venatori. The Elder One demands this woman's life."

Cassandra, Solas and Dorian closed behind Sian as Leliana's agents appeared from the shadows and rapidly dispatched the advancing Venatori guards.

Teeth clenched, the Herald prowled toward the Magister. "Your men are dead, Alexius."

Standing his ground, the Magister hissed, "You are a mistake. You should never have existed." His lips forming the words of an incantation, he slowly opened his hand and an amulet lifted from his palm with the odious green shimmer of a rift surrounding it.

Recognizing the lethal magic, Dorian struck out with his staff and the amulet whirled away, the magic dispelling into an emerald vortex.

Time shifted and Sian felt herself drawn into the thing. Strange sensations bombarded her, light waxed and waned as she spun and fell, landing on her hands and knees on a cold stone floor. The green light receded and she heard voices.

Venatori guards rushed toward her. "Blood of the Elder One! Where'd they come from?"

Reflexively, she reached for Sulevin, relieved when her hand found the hilt. The first guard fell with a sweeping stroke to his throat, the next rushed her and she sheathed the blade in his chest. As another joined the fray, Dorian stepped to her side and with a flick of his staff set the man on fire and cut him down.

Sian shook her head attempting to clear the rush of the fall, then she perused their surroundings. A sickly red glow permeated what appeared to be a dungeon.

Dorian shifted his staff and suavely smoothed his moustache. "Interesting. It's probably not what Alexius intended, the rift must have moved us to the closest confluence of arcane energy."

Further exploration of the area revealed that much of the light was emanating from monstrous chunks of red lyrium that littered the dungeon as far as The Herald's eyes could see. The same carved Mabari sconces present in Redcliffe's great hall held lit torches spewing soot against thick blackened posts. "This is the dungeon. The last thing I remember was being in the throne room."

"Let's see." The mage tilted his head, impatiently tapping his staff and frowning at the decor. "We are still in the castle. Of course, it's not simply where – it's when. Alexius used the amulet as a focus. It moved us through time."

"Did we go forward or back? And – how far?" Noticing the locked door ahead, Sian stooped to look for a key on the lead guard's body. "More importantly, is there a way back?"

Dorian looked amused. "Those are excellent questions. We'll have to find out – won't we? Let's look around. Get a grip on our location. Then we can figure out how and if we can return."

As Sian's fingers deftly plucked the key from the Venatori's pocket, she glanced up. "I don't think his intent was to send me to jail. He seemed to have something somewhat more lethal in mind."

"Without a doubt." The mage gravely explained. "I suspect his original plan was to remove you from time completely. If he had managed, you would never have been at the Temple of Sacred Ashes to mangle his Elder One's plan. I think your surprise in the castle hall made him reckless. He tossed us into the rift before he was ready. I countered it, the magic went wild and poof - here we are. Make sense now?"

"It makes as much sense as anything else I've encountered since the Conclave." The Herald ran her fingers threw her soaked hair, wrinkling her nose at the stench of moldy water. "Do you think any of the others were drawn in?"

"Doubtful. It simply wasn't big enough and Alexius wouldn't risk himself or Felix getting caught in it. They are likely in this when, the question would be – where?" Dorian rolled his eyes with exasperation for his former mentor. "I don't even want to think about what this will do to the fabric of the world. We didn't so much as travel through time as punch a hole in it and toss it into the privy. But don't worry. I'm here – I'll protect you."

Her hand firmly pressed around her sword's grip, Sian smiled bleakly, glad the man wasn't lacking for confidence – and courage. "I'm less concerned with protection than I am your ability to puzzle this out. You have a plan to get us back I hope?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." The mage told her, his even white teeth gleaming in the gloom. "They're lovely little thoughts – like little jewels."

Truly appreciative of his expertise and grateful for his assistance, Sian decided then and there that despite his origin, she actually trusted him. He saved her life in the throne room and his self-assurance was infectious, buoying her hope of escape.

After unlocking the dungeon entry, she led them through the rank, flooded lower floors of the cellblock. As they proceeded, no Venatori appeared to slow them down and they moved quickly to a mildewed stairwell. Her mind wandered back to her conversation with Solas at Haven and to the Magister's comments. There seemed to be a connection. Softly she whispered to Dorian. "Alexius mentioned an Elder One. Do you have any idea who he was talking about?"

His voice was low but melodic as he shared his theory with a shrug. "The leader of the Venatori I suspect. Some Magister aspiring to godhood. It's the same old tune. Let's play with magic we don't understand - it will make us incredibly powerful. Evidently, it doesn't matter if you rip apart the fabric of time in the process."

Stealthily they negotiated the stairs. As they cleared the last steps, they could see an iron gate leading to a causeway that wound up, the direction they needed to go. A squad of Venatori patrolled the area. Sian motioned with her chin toward the unwitting guards. "Care to make some ice?"

"It is a bit warm down here, isn't it?" Dorian chuckled. "Nothing would delight me more."

The mage cast an impressive wall of ice, capturing the guards in the process. Grimly, Sian employed Sulevin, shattering their lives along with the frozen water. Trying her key in the barred causeway door proved to be a disappointment. Quickly she checked the bodies on the landing, but there were no more keys to be found. Looking to her companion, she sighed. "Doesn't work. We're going to have to check the other cell block to see if we can find the right one."

Descending an alternate stairwell, they soon located a corridor lined with doorways leading further into the dank prison. Sian tried the first one. Rows of cells filled with more red lyrium lay ahead. She began to turn back and heard a whimper from a cell further in. Her investigation revealed a sight that horrified her. The helpless sound issued from Fiona.

Though she wasn't certain, it looked like red lyrium was growing from, and at the same time encasing, the Grand Enchanter. The elf was frozen in a standing position, her head wearily resting on an immobile hand. She raised her head, eyes scarlet from contact with the stuff. "You are alive! I saw you disappear into the rift."

"What has been done to you?" Sian grappled with what might free the mage and instinctively tightened her grip on Sulevin. "What does this madness accomplish?"

"The longer you are near it – eventually you become this… Then they mine your corpse for more," she explained, her head lolling back to her hand.

Gently, Dorian pressed her. "Can you tell us the date? It's very important."

The elf could barely breathe, but she managed to rasp an answer. "Harvestmere 9:42 Dragon."

Dorian gasped. "9:42? Then we've missed an entire year!"

Moved to pity by the sight of Fiona's fate and the sudden realization that every pillar of red lyrium they saw was a victim, Sian fought the urge to wretch. "We've got to go back to our own time, Dorian!"

The Grand Enchanter's plea was urgent, but weak. "Please stop this from happening! Alexius serves the Elder One – more powerful than the Maker… no one challenges him and lives."

The Herald's jaw worked. "We will do all that we can to make sure this never comes to pass!"

"If we hope to accomplish that, then our only chance is to find that amulet Alexius used. If it still exists I can use it to re-open the rift at the exact spot we left. Maybe." Dorian seemed to be moved by the elf's plight.

"Good." Fiona coughed.

"I said – maybe. It might also turn us into paste." The mage grimaced.

"You must try!" The elf wheezed with the effort of speaking. "Your spymaster, Leliana. She is here. Find her, quickly – before the Elder One learns you're here."

It haunted Sian to leave the Grand Enchanter trapped in the poisonous lyrium, but the noble knew there was nothing she could do for her except press to their goal. At the main corridor, she and Dorian began checking doors again searching for Leliana. Several of the doors led to darkened, cobwebbed chambers, empty except for vermin. At an intersection to a lichen covered lower chamber she opened a door that looked like it led only to more darkness, but she heard a voice from within.

Readying herself for a fight, she entered and familiar words echoed in her ears. Her heart leapt to her throat. Cassandra was praying. "The light shall lead her safely through the paths of this world and into the next…"

Moving into the damp cell block, Sian tried to ready herself for what she might find. Her hands shook and her pulse quickened as her feet led her to the Seeker's cell. Reverently, she chanted the next line hoping to comfort the Seeker. "For she who trusts in the Maker, fire is her water."

"The voice of Sian Trevelyan? It cannot be." She heard Cassandra murmur feverishly.

Fumbling, she opened the lock and stepped in to find the Seeker slumped against the back wall. "Cassandra…" she whispered tenderly, stooping to her side. Her head was bowed to her chest. Gently Sian lifted her chin and hissed softly. "What have they done to you?"

The woman's skin was grey and her extraordinary eyes were sunken and bloodshot, gleaming with a scarlet light. She looked weakened and near death. But, as her name registered, she gazed up and found her voice. "You've returned to us! Can it be? Has Andraste given us another chance?"

Sian snaked her arm behind the Seeker's upper back to support her, but her head dropped to the noble's shoulder. "Let me help you."

Cassandra seemed to be talking to herself, her voice delirious and filled with despair. "Maker, forgive me. I have failed you. I failed everyone. The end must truly be upon us – if the dead return to life."

The Nevarran's face was drawn with fatigue and her skin was searing to the touch. With her free hand Sian retrieved a vial of healing potion from her belt and uncorked it with her teeth. "Cassandra, drink this. It will help."

The Herald touched the vial to the Seeker's lips, but she was slow to taste the restorative concoction. Patiently, Sian held the vial in place as Cassandra finally sipped it dry. Putting the empty bottle aside, she held her close as she waited for the potion to take effect.

Maker help her. Sian closed her eyes and rested her forehead against Cassandra's temple - waiting. Feeling a featherlight touch to her cheek, she looked again to find the Seeker gazing at her fondly, a fevered hand stroking her face in wonder. "It truly is you."

"Yes. It is." Relieved to find Cassandra alive, she allowed herself to lean into the caress.

"But I saw you die. I was there – the Magister obliterated you with a gesture." Seeming to seek confirmation, Cassandra gripped Sian's arms, then took her hand and gently traced the dim glow of the Mark.

Sian felt her face flush and clamped her jaw. "I should have been here. I should have stopped this."

"The only thing that matters is that you are here now." Cassandra looked to her, her eyes filled with hope and affection, and repeated her vow from Val Royeaux, "I will follow where you lead."

Stepping into the cell, Dorian handed Sian another vial of potion. "Alexius sent us forward in time. If we find him, we may be able to return to the present."

The Seeker's brows lifted and she sighed as some of her strength seemed to return. Sian supported her as she sat up. "Go back in time? Then, can you make it so that none of this ever took place?"

"That is our intent. We found Fiona and she told us that Leliana lives. We need to find her." Sian braced the Seeker's body as she drank the proffered potion and struggled to stand.

"It is likely that she is close. Solas is in the cell across from this one." Still weak, but recovering, Cassandra was on her feet. "If he lives, he will want to assist."

Dorian shot Sian an assessing look and arched his eyebrow knowingly. "We surely wouldn't want to deprive him of such a rich opportunity. Let me see if I can get him on his feet – while you two get, um… reacquainted."

Blushing at his observation, the noble stared at her feet. Cassandra had responded to her touch, to her presence. Perhaps there was something between them in the present after all. But even if that were true, anything here wouldn't matter if they didn't make it back to the proper time.

"Alexius's master…" The Seeker articulated the words sorrowfully. "After you died we could not stop the Elder One from rising. Empress Celene was murdered, the army that swept in afterwards was a horde of demons. Nothing stopped them. Nothing."

Sian wasn't sure if the potion's effect would last, but the Seeker seemed to be stronger. Relief washed through her as she heard Solas approaching. "Can you reverse the process? It may be possible to return and obviate the events of the past year."

"That is the plan." Dorian told him dryly.

"This world is an abomination. It must never come to pass." Gesturing through the open door to the stairs beyond, the elven mage seemed to straighten. "We must go up. I've heard the guards say that Alexius has barricaded himself into the throne room."

"We need a gate key and we must find Leliana, then we can tackle getting to Alexius." Sian summarized her strategy as she studied her recently released companions.

Cassandra shared a determined glance with Solas. "We will go with you. There are many Venatori patrolling the main floor. You will need our help."

Concerned, Sian quickly offered them an out. "Are you certain? You've…"

Cassandra's red-rimmed eyes brightened. "Absolutely. It is the only chance we have and I will not shirk my duty to you or to the Inquisition. This must not come to pass if we can prevent it."

Those words were reinforced as they pressed through the eerie light of the dungeon and heard the deeply disturbing cacophony of torture ahead. Someone was being beaten, crying out in agony.

"How did Trevelyan know about the sacrifice in the Temple?!" A deep Tevinter voice demanded. "Answer!"

The unmistakable lilt of Leliana's voice vehemently denied him. "Never!"

The muffled thud of a club meeting muscle and bone resounded and Sian sprinted up the corridor. As she ran she could hear the conversation echo against the dripping stone walls.

The low voice spoke again menacingly, "There's no use in this defiance, little bird. There's no one left for you to protect."

The Spymaster laughed cynically, "You're wasting your breath!"

Dorian splintered the door to the torture chamber with a fireball and the squad entered, skidding to a halt as the former bard's torturer held a wickedly hooked knife to her cheek.

"Talk!" the Venatori commanded her, ready to slash. Hearing the Herald enter, he pivoted toward the door.

"I will die first…" Leliana seethed, suddenly arching her back and coiling her knees around his neck. "Or you will…" The snap of his bones echoed as she efficiently broke his spine and immediately recognized Sian. "You are alive." She gasped.

As Sian unchained the Spymaster, she fought back the horror of seeing Leliana's mangled face. As she worked, she saw the bloodied implements used on the woman laying nearby and the sight chilled her to the bone. "Maker's breath, Leliana! How are you still standing?"

Nightingale's eyes flashed and her smile was a rictus of agony as she answered. "Anger is stronger than any pain." Despite the ruin worked on her lovely face, she seemed to have somewhat more strength than Solas or Cassandra. She stretched her arms, cracked her neck and gravely inquired, "Do you have weapons?"

Sian turned, checking. Cassandra was picking up a sword and shield from a nearby arming rack as Solas perused a staff leaning near it. "We do."

Leliana grimaced as she strode to Cassandra's side, picking up her confiscated bow and a quiver brimming with arrows. "Good. The Magister is probably in his chambers."

Dorian stood behind her, his handsome face washed with concern. "You aren't curious as to how we got here?"

As she adjusted a buckle on the quiver, the spymaster cast a ghoulish gaze at the mage. "No." She told him with a note of chilling finality.

Undaunted, Dorian continued. "Alexius sent us into the future. This? His victory? His Elder One? It was never meant to be."

"I am so sorry, Leliana." Firmly, but gently Sian added. "If we can get back to the present and stop Alexius, then you'll never have to go through this."

Leliana's eyes were hard as sapphires in her hollowed skull as she cast them directly upon the Tevinter mage. "And mages always wonder why people fear them. No one should have this power."

Dorian seemed to ignore the potent anger in her voice. "It's dangerous and unpredictable. Before the Breach – nothing we did…"

"Enough." The spymaster made a cutting motion, her words tinged with warning. "This is all pretend to you – some future you hope will never exist. I suffered – the whole world suffered. It was real."

As he opened his mouth again, Sian marveled that the worldly mage seemed clueless. "What happened while we were away?" He ventured.

Leliana's face twisted with rage and she bored into him. "Stop talking!"

Sian reached for Dorian's arm, but he shook her off with a glare. "I'm just asking for information."

"No. You're talking to fill silence." Leliana's breath rattled with effort, her eyes were filled with sorrow and the bow in her hand trembled. "There were many terrible things… unspeakable things. It serves no purpose for you to hear them."

Sian considered this woman she knew to be kind, compassionate and strong as a willow and grieved, knowing that she was very close to breaking. For the Spymaster to reach this point, for her to be this enraged, this stony, whatever had happened was horrific enough to defy description. She needed her anger – she craved justice. If it could keep her on her feet and get them to the throne room, Sian had to let it stand. Acidic saliva swarmed her mouth and the Herald swallowed hard. "Let's end this. Come on."

The key ring Sian lifted from Leliana's torturer not only held shackle keys, but the key to the main gate. Grimly, she led them past the gate and into the keep proper. At several junctures they fought past Venatori troops and mages until they finally ascended a great staircase leading back to the great hall and the door to the throne room.

As they entered the hall, the Mark split open its sting encompassing Sian's hand in the telltale sign of a rift. The rip loomed in the alcove before the throne room door and it swarmed with demons and Venatori mages. She knew Solas, Dorian and Leliana could support her at range, they were already moving to position on the balcony surrounding the bay before the entrance. She looked at the Seeker close beside her. With every fight, Cassandra had gone shoulder to shoulder with her against the enemy, but Sian could see that her strength was diminishing. She had no idea what had been done to her, but the Herald realized it was slowly killing her.

"I will go to the Maker's side soon." Cassandra bluntly confessed, her face pale, lined with deep veins and glistening with sweat. Smiling gently, she gripped Sian's arm and wryly added, "However, I wish to send Alexius there first."

The Herald's eyes steamed but she hefted Sulevin filled with grit. "Then let's do this. Together."

Nodding, Cassandra matched her stride for stride as they doggedly began fighting through the pack of demons to the epicenter of the rift. Sian arced high and Cassandra bashed and struck low, relentlessly edging their way forward. As arrows, ice and fire stormed around them, the Seeker used her shield to cover them while they felled the mob barring their way.

Twice Sian attempted to close the ripped veil only to be met with resistance from the Venatori magi surrounding the room. On her third attempt, a lone Venatori stood before her, his staff crackling with a nimbus of hoary frost. Leveling it at Sian, he lifted it to deliver the spell but before he could fully cast, a single swift arrow sliced the air between the warriors to pierce the mage directly between the eyes.

Before the man hit the ground, Sian had dispatched the rift and Solas had begun working on the locked door. In order to open the complicated spell barring the way, the crew had to turn the pockets of the fallen mages robes to find the shards of red lyrium that acted as keys. Hastily they retrieved them and in silence, Sian handed them to Solas.

Working with economy, he placed them and dispelled the locked door. "The way is open."