It took them nearly two days on foot to reach their destination, a place called Skyhold. It was a fortress located in a stretch of the Frostback Mountains near the Dales, on the border between Orlais and Ferelden, controlling a mountain pass from the kingdom to the empire. From what Solas could tell them about the fortress, it's name in the ancient elvhen language meant "where the sky was kept" and the mountain peak it was built on was once the site of rituals carried out by the elves during the height of their civilization, but was later leveled by early Fereldans to provide the foundation of the fortress, making the Keep Fereldan. Ownership of Skyhold had since changed hands many times. When they had reached the fortress, however, it had fallen into considerable disrepair in the years after its unknown last inhabitants had abandoned it, but the mages could all sense the magic of the original elven site had permeated the stones of the keep, protecting it from evil.

Upon reaching Skyhold, the Inquisition settled in and Molly Trevelyan was appointed Inquisitor. Not long after, she was approached by Josephine and Varric, who had new leads on Corypheus' activities. Josephine had followed up on Molly's discovery of an assassination plot against Empress Celene I of Orlais and suspected that the attempt on her life will be made at the Winter Palace in Halamshiral, where the Empress was currently negotiating with Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons, her opponent in the ongoing Orlesian Civil War. As Orlais was the only military power in southern Thedas that could match the army of demons that Corypheus planned to summon, the Inquisition had an express interest in ending the civil war and securing the support of its victor. Varric, meanwhile, introduced Molly to his old friend Jack Hawke, the wayward Champion of Kirkwall, who arrived at Skyhold as soon as Varric informed him of Corypheus' involvement. Hawke informed the Inquisitor that he had asked his Grey Warden ally to investigate the nature of red lyrium, but his contact feared corruption in the ranks of the Order and went into hiding somewhere near Crestwood.

"We'd be happy to help locate your friend." Molly said, agreeing to the Champion's request. "We'll begin our search immediately."

"Thank you."

"There is one other thing I was hoping that you could help us with."

"Oh?"

"There's a mage, Runa, who needs help. She's been plagued by a demon named Zakkon since she was a little girl, ever since her magik woke up, and now the attacks have become very physical."

"I see. What is it that you would ask of me?"

"There's a way that we can save her, but it requires a shit ton of lyrium and a mage going into the Fade to face the demon in order to free her."

"The same ritual the Circles use for the Harrowing?"

Molly nodded. "We can secure the lyrium, it should be here within the week, but none of the other mages are willing to even attempt something like this." She sighed. "Which is sad after everything Runa has done for them."

Hawke thought over her proposal and stood up straight, stretching. "OK, I'll do it."

Molly looked at him with a smile of relief. "Really? Thank you!"

"This Runa must be someone special for you to go through all this trouble for."

"Well, she has been more than an asset to the Inquisition." Molly explained. "And beyond that, she has a kind of resilience and strength I've never seen in a mage before, and she's a good person. She was willing to go through weeks of torture just to protect everyone."

"Sounds like someone you could use within your ranks."

Molly nodded. "She's gained the respect of everyone else here, but there's just too much damage done for her to trust anyone. And I'm worried if we can't help her get rid of Zakkon, she won't be able to trust herself."

"I understand. You said the lyrium will be here within the week?"

Molly nodded.

"How much do you have now?"

"Barely enough to sustain the Templars who joined our ranks. Anything extra is in reserves for emergencies."

"Let me see your reserves."


"You think he can really find that much lyrium in such a short time?"

"He says he knows where to go to get what we need." Molly said, shrugging as she discussed the situation with her advisors. "Which, if he can get what we need before the shipment comes in then great, because we need to help Runa as soon as possible. Speaking of which, how is she doing?" She looked up at Cullen, who seemed like he was lost in thought.

Cullen, who was indeed lost in thought, hadn't heard her question and looked up when he heard his name called. "Hmm?"

"How is Runa doing? You've been visiting her a lot since we got here."

"No change in her condition, I'm afraid. The salve Adan created helps with the bleeding, but the wounds keep appearing all over her body. She's all but completely covered in bandages now..."

"Well, let us just hope that Hawke can follow through. Runa has been an asset to the Inquisition, the least we can do to repay her is rid her of this demon."

"Agreed."


Runa hung limply from her chains, her head slumped forward. She felt so weak, her strength fading away quickly.

"It's time to begin again, little mage."

"Please... no more..."

"It will only end when you concede and give yourself to me."

Runa weakly lifted her head enough to look at the demon, wearing that face again. "I... won't..."

"Well, then we will continue our game." Zakkon sneered. "Are you ready to begin the next round?"