Yes, that's right. It's the next chapter! Well, I'm on school holidays right now... for... like one more week (It's just a two week holiday. Better than none, though!) So, I've been writing in the days I'm been dead bored... like today! Hooray! :P

Anyways, here's the next chapter of I Come From The Stone! :D Enjoy and please review :) Thanks :)

Chapter 10:
There Are Sodding Demons In The Circle

I edged my way past the archway, where the barrier had been only moments before. I walked slowly down the corridor, hoping desperately that we wouldn't come across anything bad... the demon that Wynne fought earlier had seemed dangerous, frankly, I didn't want to fight a lump of fire... or any demon, actually. I've never fought a demon before, I've never even seen one before, it's not like I can go to fade or anything. I let out a sigh, instantly hoping that the others didn't hear me. I had to be strong! Strong!

"Be careful," warned Wynne suddenly, "I sense an abomination nearby."

"Alright..." I murmured, pulling my daggers out. I really hate this place.

We rounded a corner, into a library type place. Reminded me of the Shaperate. Just... bigger. Suddenly, three ugly, purple things came clambering towards us. I bit back a yelp of disgust as I attacked one of the things. Slime came off onto my daggers... that was just disgusting! I sliced the things head off, and wiped my daggers clean on a stay piece of fabric, then, suddenly, a bright orange flash filled my sight and I found myself flying across the room. I slammed into the wall and the world disappeared.

oOo

"Is she alright?"

"She will be fine. Just give her some air."

"What the sodding hell just happened?" I groaned, cracking my eyes open to glare at Wynne, who was standing over me with blue, glowing hands.

"The abominations exploded, you were near all three and took the brunt of the explosion."

I sighed and tried to sit up, only to be forced back down by Leliana. "Do not move," said Leliana softly, "You do not want to be injured more. Wynne has been healing you."

"Healing me?" I repeated slowly.

Wynne slowly nodded. "Unfortunately, because you are a dwarf, it has been a little more difficult than normal. However, I believe I have done a good job of patching you up. You only had one serious injury."

"I've had worse," I murmured.

"I can tell," murmured Wynne, standing upright, "Come along, now. We must keep moving."

"Shouldn't we stay here just for a little bit? Kaela did just get flown across the room by an explosion!" protested Alistair.

I shook my head and stood up, with Leliana's help. "No, we need to keep moving. I'm fine."

Alistair frowned and let out a sigh of defeat as I moved forward. I was determined to save the mages before they were destroyed by these abominations and demons. We needed them to defeat the darkspawn!

We slowly moved through the library, and when we reached the end we were attacked again, by several abominations and some sort of fire creature. A demon. Alistair and Leliana both attacked separate abominations, while Wynne sent out spells to the demon, freezing spells. I sighed and started attacking one of the abominations. As soon as it fell to my blade, I ran away from it. As soon as I ran, it exploded. Stupid abominations.

It didn't take long to defeat the creatures. It's not like they were that powerful, besides, their greatest weapon was them exploding and that only happened after they'd fallen...

I turned around and pushed open the door behind me, sighing as my party came face to face with another fire demon and at least four abominations. I dodged around the fire demon and started attacking one of the abominations, hoping that the rest of my party were also fighting. I turned around once the abomination fell and let out a groan. The abominations were all gone, but the demon was still attacking the others. It seemed more powerful than the other fire demon. I attacked it from behind, and let out a scream as it set me on fire. Maybe that was the front. I couldn't tell with this thing. The fire dissipated quickly, and left me thankful that I wasn't wearing robes like Wynne.

"Sodding stone!" I exclaimed, suddenly remembering that Wynne was wearing robes. This wasn't gonna be good with a fire demon!

"Alistair!" I exclaimed, looking over at the man, who had just been knocked backwards by a flame.

"I'm fine," he said, clambering to his feet, "Keep it away from Wynne."

I nodded. "I know, that's just what I-"

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," interrupted Wynne, "I do not need to be coddled."

Alistair blinked and spluttered a bit, before resuming fighting off the fire demon. Wynne suddenly shot out a white spell and the demon froze, just as my daggers collided with it. The demon shattered into a million pieces.

"Thank the Maker it is gone," said Leliana with a sigh, as she climbed to her feet, "That was annoying, no?"

"Very annoying," I agreed, "Let's keep going."

I turned and faced the long set of stairs in front of us and let out another sigh. Sod, I've sighed more times in my life in the last month than I have in the rest of my life!

oOo

"Please, refrain from going into the stockroom. It is a mess and I have not been able to get it into a state fit to be seen."

I nearly jumped out of my skin as the monotone voice reached my ears. I spun around and came face to face with a human man, staring at me rather blankly. "Ah... who are you?" I asked. This guy was kinda creepy.

"I am called Owain and I manage the Circle's magical stockroom. I was trying to tidy up, but there was little I could so," said the man in his creepy, monotone voice.

I blinked. "Why are you cleaning at a time like this!" I exclaimed in disbelief. What was he, nuts!

"The stockroom is my responsibility. I must keep it clean.

"You could've left, or something!"

"I tried to leave, when things go quiet. That was when I encountered the barrier. Finding no other way out, I returned to work."

Wynne sighed beside me and said, "Owain, you should have said something! I would have opened the door for you."

"The stockroom is familiar. I prefer to be here," murmured Owain.

"How can you be so calm when there are demons and abominations running wild around you!"

Wynne shook her head and muttered, "He is one of the Tranquil. The Tranquil do not have emotions."

Sod. No emotions. I would die without my emotions! How did he get no emotions anyway? This was weird.

"I would prefer not to die," said Owain, with the still creepy monotone voice, "I would prefer it if the tower returned to the way it was. Perhaps Niall will succeed and save us all."

"Who's Niall?" I asked.

"Niall the mage." Yeah, as if that was gonna help me. "He came here, with several others, and took the Litany of Adralla."

"But that protects from mind domination," said Wynne in disbelief, "Is blood magic at work here?"

"I do not know," replied Owain.

"Niall was at the meeting. He would know. Blood magic... I was afraid of this."

What in the name of all my sodding ancestors was this blood magic! Sod, this place just keeps getting more and more confusing. "We'll be able to handle it," I said confidently. Whatever blood magic was, it was no match for us! Hopefully...

Wynne nodded. "We should find Niall. The Litany will give us a fighting chance against any blood mages we encounter."

Sod. Maybe blood magic was worse than I thought...

"I wish you luck," said Owain, "Perhaps this will be over soon and things will return to the way they were. Goodbye."

For someone with no emotions, he certainly was bossy.

oOo

We continued to slowly climb the tower, getting closer and closer to the top. We had to keep fighting demons and abominations, but we started to get better at it after a while. Practice makes perfect! As we climbed, Wynne explained several things to us, namely me. First she explained about the Tranquil, and how they were once mages. Sometimes they failed a ritual called 'The Harrowing' and became Tranquil, but sometimes they opted to become Tranquil to escape being a mage. The first option was far more common. Then she explained demons to us and how the fire ones were called 'rage' demons, and they were kinda the weakest of the lot. Sloth demons can be disguised as anything, but are kinda lazy. Desire demons have the power to manipulate people without them ever knowing. Pride demons are the most powerful of all, as they have intelligence beyond all other demons.

"It's kinda creepy," I muttered, kicking a stay piece of stone across the floor, "I've never heard of demons before."

"Of course not," replied Wynne, "Dwarfs cannot enter the fade, so they generally do not encounter demons. However, surface dwarfs do hear of demons."

"I'm not a sodding surface dwarf," I grumbled, "I came from Orzammar."

"I apologise, I did not realise that you arrived from Orzammar. Generally the dwarfs do not leave Orzammar."

"I was recruited into the Grey Wardens and had to leave," I said, leaving out the part about me being a wanted criminal, defamer and murderer in Orzammar.

"Oh Maker, can we take a break?" moaned Alistair, as he lagged behind the rest of the group.

"My feet are really sore," I muttered, plopping myself down on the ground to give myself a foot massage.

Wynne sighed. "Very well, we can take a break."

oOo

"We cannot rest much longer," said Wynne, her statement forcing my tired eyes open, "The abominations and demons will not rest, so neither can we."

"Alright, point taken," I murmured, getting back to my feat, "Let's keep going them."

Alistair grunted and opened his eyes before stumbling to his feet. "Can we hurry this up? I feel like I want to sleep for a few decades."

"Or at least a few days," murmured Leliana, clambering to her own feet, "This is very tiring, no?"

I nodded. This was very tiring. The amount of stairs in this place! Stone, I knew it was going to be awful! Wynne let out a sigh and worked her way up the stairs. Shooting each other a glance, Alistair and I quickly overtook her and led our group up the stairs. As soon as we reached the top, I started leading our group to search all the rooms, just in case something important was there. The last door I opened was the one in the centre, revealing a very ugly, creepy creature. A demon, I guessed. It kinda almost... scared me... almost... yeah, I wasn't scared... Nope, not at all...

"Oh, look. Visitors. I'd entertain you but... too much effort involved," drawled the demon, glancing at the four of us.

"Good," I replied, glaring back at the demon, far more confidently than I felt. I had no confidence at that point... "The will make you that much easier to kill."

"But why? Aren't you tired off all the violence in this world? I know I am."

"A sloth... demon," said Wynne, her voice drooping, "Be... careful."

"Wouldn't you like to just lay down and... forget about all this? Leave it all behind?" murmured the demon in it's strange tone.

"Can't... keep eyes open," murmured Alistair, swaying on his feet, "Someone... pinch... me." Varkas let out a loud bark, his head hanging low.

Wynne shook her head and muttered, "Resist. You must resist, else we are all lost."

It was useless; even I could feel the power in the sloth demon's voice. One by one my three companions dropped: Alistair first, then Varkas, and then Wynne. "Don't leave me!" I cried out in horror. This wasn't good. I felt my eyes start to droop and slowly, I dropped to the floor.

oOo

I felt... strange. Like... like I floating. "Ow..." I murmured as my eyes flickered open. So much for floating... I blinked as I found myself staring up at a plain white ceiling. Where was I? Slowly I sat up and looked around the room. Where was I? This place seemed familiar... I glanced around the empty room, blinking in confusion. What was I just doing? I couldn't remember...

"Kaela, are you still asleep?" exclaimed Rica, walking into the room and towards me, "Why aren't you awake yet?"

I blinked at my older sister as she scowled at me and muttered, "I'm sorry... I... I don't remember what I was doing..."

"You were sleeping, silly," replied Rica, a loving tone entering her frustrated voice, "The King was looking for you."

I nodded slowly and got to my feet, my mind still in a haze of confusion. There was something I was supposed to be doing... something I couldn't remember.

"Hello? Anyone home?" asked Rica, tapping on my forehead, "The King is waiting for you! He wants to discuss a plan to get the Casteless working!"

"Casteless working?" I repeated. But... we weren't allowed to work... were we?

Rica rolled her eyes at me. "Stone, Kaela. Anyone would think you were drunk for the last three months! Yes, because you killed Beraht and showed such great fighting skills, the King decided to rethink his rule and decided to get the Casteless working, by clearing out thaigs and training the Casteless to protect them, remember?"

I blinked. I remembered that... barely... it was hazy, like a lost memory... "Yeah..." I murmured, "I guess I'm just not feeling so great... my mind's a little fuzzy."

Rica let out a sigh and gave me a hug. "It's no wonder, with how much work you've been putting into this. Don't push yourself too much, little sister."

I nodded and returned her hug... it didn't feel right... but, I didn't know why. This was always the way Rica hugged me, so why did it feel wrong? "Rica?" I murmured, pulling away from the hug, "Something doesn't feel right..."

Rica frowned and replied, "What do you mean, little sister? I don't feel anything."

I looked around the room, only now noticed the decorations and fancy items scattered around. "This... isn't right... there's... something, something's missing."

"What are you talking about?"

"This... this stuff doesn't happen to Casteless..."

Rica sighed and put a hand on my forehead. "You don't feel like you have a fever... maybe you should lie down."

I shook her hand away and muttered, "It's not right, Rica. Nothing adds up! I don't... I don't understand what's going on!"

Rica's hands were suddenly on my shoulders and, very firmly, she said, "Calm down, Kaela. What's wrong? Why do you think that nothing adds up? Talk to me, Kaela!"

I looked her straight in the eyes. I didn't understand! I wasn't supposed to be in Orzammar! I had more important things to do! "More important things?" I said out loud, why did I think that? What more important things were there to do? "No..." I said slowly, "This isn't right..." I gripped my head with one hand. There was something present in my mind, but every time I tried to grab the memory, or thought, it scurried out of my reach. It was important. I was supposed to be doing something important... very important. Something that would save Fereldan! "What?" I stuttered, what was I meant to be doing!

"Kaela, what's wrong!" cried out Rica, worry lines etched on her face.

"What was I doing?" I asked out loud, "I was doing something important! Something very important! I was on the surface... I was... I know I was... and there was a tower, and mages, and demons... demons..." Memories suddenly flooded into my mind. That's it! The sloth demon sent us to the fade! I looked at Rica again, only now noticing the demon she truly was. "Stone!" I shrieked, backing away from the demon, "I'm in the fade!"

The illusion surrounding me faded and the demon Rica growled. "We were giving you the life you wanted! The life where you are living with your sister, helping the Casteless become useful! Why are you so content with fighting and oppression!"

I glared at the demon and ripped out my daggers. "I have a task more important to do, demon," I growled, "I'm trying to save Fereldan, and you're getting in my way!"

The demon growled back at me, her black eyes glinting.

I ran towards it, dodging as a purple ball of magic came towards me. "Go away!" I shrieked, stabbing it straight through the heart... if demons had hearts... either way, it let out a high-pitched scream and fell limp on the ground.

"Stone damn it," I grumbled, returning my daggers back to their resting place on my back, "Where are the others?"

A circular light suddenly erupted beside me, surrounding a strange object. I let out a sigh and walked towards it. Ready to brave whatever this place sent at me.