"They say this marsh was once inhabited, until the day everyone disappeared." Nathaniel kept his bow at hand.

"The darkspawn have been here. You can already smell them," Sigrun said, looking around.

"Well you two are just full of doom and gloom, aren't you?" Anders said.

Nathaniel shook his head. "My father used to tell me stories about the Blackmarsh when I was young. He said evil magic killed everyone here. This was just before the rebellion - a great mystery at the time."

"Did he tell you anything else about this place?" Jerath asked.

"They never found out what happened here. Once the monsters appeared, the marsh was abandoned." Nathaniel chuckled. "I used to dream of coming to the Blackmarsh and setting things right. Little boy dreams."

"You're doing it now, aren't you?"

He laughed. "So I am." He shrugged. "If someone had told me I'd end up here, I would have laughed at them. But times change. When I was in Kirkwall, I thought I would return to Ferelden to take command of my father's garrison. Now here I am, a Grey Warden and fighting both darkspawn and demons. Interesting."

Jerath shrugged. "Stick around. This happens all the time."

"And the fun never ends, I suppose? Good to know." He nodded. "Anyway, the haunted marsh awaits."

"Maker, can we go back to the doom and gloom? The cheerful is a little creepy," Anders said.

#

They found the first dead darkspawn only a little way into the swamp. It had been dead a while, perhaps as long as a couple weeks. Several others were scattered nearby.

"Dead. Kristoff's doing, maybe?"

Anders nodded. "That answers that, I suppose. The darkspawn are definitely here."

Something entered the edge of Nathaniel's senses. "Commander... ghouls?"

"No." Jerath sighed. "I'm afraid it's a bit worse than that."

The blight infested werewolves charged.

#

"I thought you all had fixed that werewolf problem," Oghren said, kicking one of them over.

"It appears the effect was more limited than we thought."

"You ain't going to go all yellow-eyed again, are ya?"

"It's possible that the effect simply didn't work on the ones that were mindless," Jerath said, examining one of the corpses. He'd send a letter to Lenore.

"Yeah, but you ain't gonna..."

"Lenore and I were cured, Oghren."

Anders blinked. "You mean you..."

"Welcome to the Grey Wardens."

#

The camp had been empty long enough for mushrooms to be growing in the shelter of the tent. He'd been fairly certain Kristoff was dead when the man had not reported in, but he'd held a slight hope. An abandoned camp surrounded by more of those 'children' made it fairly clear what had happened.

They found the body in a dry, sheltered area, surrounded by darkspawn. A hurlock in sturdy armor moved towards them. It was disturbing, seeing a gloating expression on such a face. "Yes, that is your Grey Warden. The Mother told it to me that if he was lured to this place, and slain, that in time you would come." It laughed, a sickeningly wet sound. "And the Mother she was right. The Mother is always right."

"Did she say you'd pay for killing a Grey Warden?"

"The Mother she is no prophet, but she is most clever. Oh yes, that she is." It gave a mocking bow. "I... here before you is the First, and I am bringing you a message. The Mother, she is not permitting you to further his plan, whether this you know or not. So she is sending you a gift." It held out its hand, and crushed a silvery-green orb. Light burst forth.

#

They were still in the swamp. Boats seemed to float in the air, and the trees occasionally shifted and changed. The Fade. Oghren, Sigrun, and Nathaniel were looking about curiously. Anders looked about ready to wet himself. A mage would recognize the Fade.

"No!" The darkspawn howled. "We have come to the Fade as well? It cannot be this!"

Jerath sighed. "You weren't 'first' in your class, I take it?"

"The Mother she has deceived me! I am betrayed!"

"I never could trust my mother either," Oghren said sympathetically.

"Now I am being trapped in the Fade with you! Ah, I am the fool!"

"Looks like someone was considered expendable."

It actually got indignant. "I am the First! I am not being 'expendable'. Both the Grey Warden and the Mother shall be learning this!" It gestured at the other darkspawn. "I will be leaving you to the Children. I will be finding my own path back into the world! Back to the Mother!"

It fled as the other darkspawn attacked.

#

Oghren smashed the last of the creatures to the ground with his axe. Then he looked around. His eyes went to a floating boat and widened. "Wait, what did that snarly bastard say? The Fade? We're in the Fade? That's where humans dream, isn't it?"

"Yes." Well, some humans. And some elves.

"Dwarves shouldn't be here. We don't dream. We sleep like the Stone!"

Both Brosca and Saitada had been drawn in at the tower. "Maybe you've been on the surface too long."

Oghren glared. "Explaining why bad things happen doesn't help. Bad things happen, you want them to stop." He gestured. "And what happens to my body while I'm here? Someone could outrage my modesty! What little's left of it!" He hit the dead darkspawn again. "Sod."

"I can't say I'm happy about the notion that I'm lying face down in the mud somewhere," Anders said.

"The Fade? We are actually in the Fade?" Nathaniel shook his head. "I thought only mages could enter the Fade?"

"It's kind of neat," Sigrun said. "Look it all the floating boats. Why do they do that?"

"Wynne had a very long and detailed explanation for that phenomenon," Jerath said.

"Oh? What was it?"

"I don't know. I wasn't listening. Something about tangibility and transience."

"Is transience even a word?"

"This is bad. This is really bad," Nathaniel said.

"I'm so glad I left Ser Pounce-a-lot at the Keep. He'd be so scared right now," Anders said.

"Let's go," Jerath said.

"Go where?" Nathaniel asked.

"We need to find something and kill it."

"Is that how this works?" Nathaniel gave him a dubious look.

"Always seems that way."

#

Killing the desire demons didn't seem to do the trick. Neither did activating the runestones and killing the rage demons. Slowly, they made their way to towards the village. The gate was locked. For a moment, he debated adopting the golem form and simply smashing it open. He glanced at his comrades. Probably not the best idea. "Let's head around, see if we can find a way through."

Memories faded in and out as they walked through the manifestation of the swamp. Conversations that had taken place decades ago played out for them again. He was torn between gratitude and concern that the other had not manifested. It had not been able to enter the dreams of the others as he had, due to them being domains of particular demons and none inside calling to it.

He needed to learn more of the Fade. Especially if things like this were going to keep happening.

#

"You... you're not a spirit like everyone else. How did you get here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"This is where my grandfather's ashes are buried. I come to visit him often." She gestured at the cairn. "He was the last person to stay in Blackmarsh. Once he passed, there was nobody left in the village who remembered."

He sighed. "You know this is the Fade, right?"

"This? Of course I know that. This isn't -" She ducked. "Oh no! They've come back again! Quick, come hide in the crypt!" She fled through a door.

They turned to see some walking corpses. It took them only a minute to dispatch the creatures. Jerath went to the door. "So." He looked back at the others. "Demon?"

"Demon," Nathaniel said.

Sigrun nodded. "Demon."

"Definitely a demon," Oghren said, touching his axe.

"She could be a legitimate damsel in..." Anders started to say, and then sighed. "Demon."

"Shall we?"

#

"And so you came. Fell into my little trap." She turned around. "Such wonderful creatures, you mortals. So full of yearnings. So full of hunger."

He narrowed his eyes at her. She wasn't the keeper of this domain. Quite frankly, she wasn't intelligent enough to hold a domain. "Do you truly think you can defeat me?"

She looked them over. "Hmmm... You do outnumber me now, it's true. Clearly you mortals are not frail." She started walking backwards. "Very well. Let the baroness have you. I shall feed on whatever remains." She fled.

Jerath turned to his companions and raised an eyebrow at Nathaniel. "Baroness?"

"Blackmarsh was ruled by an Orlesian baroness when it vanished," Nathaniel said. "I'm afraid I don't know any more than that. She disappeared as well."

"I'm guessing she's the one we need to stab then."

"Heh," Oghren said.

"You scared off a hunger demon." Anders shook his head. "You actually scared away a hunger demon."

#

The guard let them pass the gate. "A spirit come to protect them?" Nathaniel said. "Another demon?"

"Spirits are different than demons," Jerath said.

"How so?"

"They tend not to want to possess and slaughter mortals, to begin with." He shook his head. "Some of them are actually helpful."

Anders looked at the Commander. The man actually seemed fairly comfortable walking through the fade, and now he was talking as though he'd actually had encounters with spirits. "Have you actually known any spirits?"

"A couple."

"Really?" He blinked. "What kind?"

"Faith. Purpose. And I'm still not entirely sure what the Lady of the Forest was." He shrugged. "Let's find this protective spirit. If nothing else, it may be able to lead us to the demon."

#

"The mansion will not protect you, fiend! Come out and face your crime!" The spirit appeared to be an armored knight, armed with shield and sword.

A crowd surrounded him. "We aren't afraid of you any longer!" "The witch hides! Break down the door!"

The spirit held up a hand to forestall them. "Be cautious, my friends. The baroness has power within her lair, and she well knows it. We rush in at our peril." The spirit turned, and saw them. "And who comes now? More minions of the baroness? Or yet more helpless souls she has ensnared?"

"We are Grey Wardens, brought here against our will."

The spirit was white, vaguely transparent. It made for a strange, and vaguely disturbing effect. Maybe he was just used to the other one. "I cannot say what a 'Grey Warden' is, but clearly you are a stranger. Perhaps it is a sign." The spirit's eyes glowed just slightly behind the slit in the helmet. "I am Justice. I have watched the place and seethed at the wrongs visited on these poor folk, and now I seek to aid them."

One of the villagers stepped forward. "Once, we lived in the real world, and the baroness ruled over us. She took our children and used their blood to work dark and evil magic."

Another stepped up behind her. "And when we burned down her mansion, she cast one final spell that brought our spirits here. We have been trapped ever since, still under her rule."

"This spirit knows the Fade," Nathaniel said. "If we help him, he might help us in turn."

Anders shook his head. "I think that since the baroness trapped these people here, that she's our best chance of getting out." He might have a point. This baroness was probably the thing they needed to stab to break free.

"Tell me, stranger, will you help is in this righteous task?" the spirit asked. "Being a Grey Warden appears to make you an able sort, and thus your aid will be most welcome."

This was the side of a riot he was most comfortable on. "I would gladly help you."

"Then we have the numbers to challenge the baroness directly."

Oghren smashed a fist into his palm. "Ooh, a direct challenge. I like the sound of that. Less talk, more killing!"

Anders looked frightened. "They just said she was an evil, powerful witch! Do we really want to antagonize her?"

"We could defeat her and make her use her magic to help us." Or just stab her. Stabbing seemed to be a good overall policy with demons.

"Hmm. Now there's a thought... all right. You've convinced me."

"My intention is to storm the gate," Justice said. "Are you ready?"

"We are."

"Good people, we take the battle directly to the witch!" Justice raised his fists triumphantly. "For too long have her crimes gone unpunished! Now is the time to reclaim your freedom! He turned, and kicked the gate off its hinges.

Jerath sighed. He'd wanted to do that.

#

She was dressed in fancy clothes, and spoke with an Orlesian accent. Per most of the stories his mother had told him, that definitely marked her as evil. "My, my. All that shouting outside and now you've finally decided to barge in? Without even a proper invitation?"

"Foul sorceress! You will release these poor folk and submit yourself to justice!" The spirit certainly talked like something out of a children's story.

"Justice?" The woman actually sounded insulted. "Is that what you are calling it? What of their punishment, burning my home to the ground and me within it?"

"Because you were stealing our children! Using their blood to feed your vanity!"

"As was my due! You lived on my land, I your rightful ruler! Your blood was mine just as your lives are now."

She definitely needed to die. "Their lives are not yours any longer!"

"What's this? The pathetic fools have actually managed to recruit yet more sympathizers?"

Justice stepped forward. "We are no longer alone, Baroness! Your reign ends here!"

She smirked. "As it happens, I am no longer alone either."

The First walked up behind her, and gazed down at them. "My path back across the Veil lies in victory over you and your new allies. Then the Mother will pay for her treachery!"

He shook his head. "I figured you'd turn up again sooner or later."

It turned to the baroness. "We must be ending this! Now! The Grey Warden, it is more dangerous than you know!"

"Oh?" The Baroness gestured. "As you wish, creature. Slay them and you shall have the reward you requested."

Justice drew his sword. "Enough! The battle is joined!"

#

The ash wraiths fell before Ander's blast of ice. The villagers dealt with the risen corpses, with the aid of Oghren and Nathaniel. Justice went straight for the Baroness. That left him with the First. It tried to summon its magic, and he sent a wave of his own energy to cancel the spell. It knocked the First off its feet entirely. That was... new... He'd never actually tried using templar abilities in the Fade before.

"No! You fool! Why haven't you defeated them?" the Baroness yelled.

"They are too much! It must be sending me back through the Veil! Now, before it is too late!"

"Oh, I will sunder the Veil all right! I'll send them all back! But you - your life is going to provide the power!"

The First wailed. "No! No!" The Baroness's magic wrapped around the creature, ripping its blood out as it screamed.

If it hadn't killed one of his Wardens, he might have pitied it.

#

Aside from being muddy, they appeared none the worse for wear after their brief trip to the Fade. Oghren... was hugging a tree. Anders was picking bugs out of his hair.

And then Kristoff's corpse started moving. Nathaniel immediately reached for his bow, and Jerath held up a hand. He could sense... something. The corpse stood, and looked around in confusion. "What... where am I? What is happening?" It turned around. "No! This is the world of mortals, beyond the Veil! And this..." Its hand touched Kristoff's face. "This is a mortal body of flesh! I am trapped within!"

"This spirit of justice? How did you get here?"

"The witch sundered the Veil in her haste. All of us were drawn through. She has returned to this realm as well. Can you not feel it? The baroness is nearby."

Jerath drew his weapons. "We've defeated her once already."

"You misunderstand." It shook Kristoff's head. The effect was disconcerting. "The baroness, she is not a mortal as you are or as were the villagers she kept trapped." It gestured angrily. "There was such a mortal, once, but now? That is a demon of pride. She assumed that role long ago to feed from the mortals she trapped. But here in your world, here she will be quite something else."

He'd fought a pride demon once. At least, that is what Lenore said it had been. It had gone down fairly quickly once he'd jammed a sword through its head. Of course, until he'd done that, it had been smacking them around handily. "What do you propose, then?"

"The Veil is sundered, and the tears must be closed lest they continue to spill demons out into this world." It folded Kristoff's arms, then gestured. "I can alter your weapons for a time, allowing them to drive back the Fade's magic... but if we are to deal with the baroness, we must move swiftly."

#

It felt a bit ridiculous, attacking what was essentially just a strange shimmer in the air. And yet two of his arrows actually hung inside, stopped by the resistance. Then a demon flowed out of it. The Commander finished dispatching the revenant, then backhanded the demon with his sword in an almost irritated gesture. The arrows fell as the tear dissipated, and he bent to collect them. "How many more?" he asked Justice.

"I sense three," he replied. He pointed, and then began walking. The Commander followed.

Nathaniel shook his head, and fell into step. After all these years, solving the mystery of the Blackmarsh. Delilah was never going to believe a word of this. He laughed softly to himself. Odd how days like this were beginning to almost feel normal.

#

They found her looking up at the remains of the manor. "So this is the world of mortals. How very dull it seems, so immutable and unchanging." She turned towards them, a triumphant smile on her face. "Yet... I am here! I have crossed the Veil! The spirits will watch in envy as the mortals of this realm bow down before me!"

"That will not happen, demon." Justice readied his sword.

"Ah. It seems I was not the only one to be drawn here. How very tiresome."

Jerath shrugged. "Defeating you one more time won't be a problem."

"Is that so? We shall see, won't we?" Her form suddenly rippled and shifted, then began to grow, until before them stood the monstrous form of a pride demon. It snarled, then tore another hole in the veil to release more demons.

He swept his axe through a shade, and started for the baroness. Justice moved alongside him, and shifted to flank. The Baroness turned its attention to the spirit, clearly believing it to be the greater threat.

It was a fatal mistake.

#

Justice stood over the body of the pride demon as it faded away. Anders began tending to the wound Oghren had taken from a shade. Sigrun was helping Nathaniel retrieve arrows.

He approached the spirit. It turned to face him. "For what it is worth, thank you. I have fulfilled my vow. May the victims of that woman's madness rest in peace, wherever they have gone to now."

"What are you going to do now?"

The spirit considered for a moment, then shook it's head unhappily. "I cannot simply return to the Fade." It sheathed the sword. "There are memories within this poor man's mind. They are difficult to see, but..." The dead eyes widened. "He was a Grey Warden? He was... slain by the darkspawn, the one called the First?"

"The darkspawn are who the Grey Wardens fight."

"It seems I am at a loss. I know nothing of this world, and have only a few memories of this Grey Warden to draw from. I do not wish to die." The eyes met his. "What shall I do, mortal? You seem to be a creature of good character, and you are of this world. Can you advise me?"

Good character. Here he thought spirits could read minds. Maybe that was just the other one. He considered all the times the other had helped him. No. He wasn't going to condemn a spirit that was only trapped because its compassion had led it to try to help others. "Join me. The body you inhabit belonged to a Grey Warden."

"You mean continue this mortal's mission? As a Grey Warden?" It considered. "It was a darkspawn who murdered this mortal most ignobly, and the ones that commanded it yet live. To avenge his death..." It nodded. "Yes, that would be a purpose." It gave a small bow. "Very well. I will join you, Grey Warden, if you will allow it."

Purpose. Odd how heavy that word was. "I will. Should I call you Kristoff, then?"

"I do not have a name, only a virtue to which I aspire. If I am to need a name, then use that. I am Justice. And for now, I am pleased to travel at your side, Grey Warden."

#

They were almost out of the swamp when Sigrun set the bone she'd found back in the skull of the dragon. There was a great roaring sound, and then something up on the top of the hill exploded in a great ball of light.

Nathaniel shook his head. "We're going to need to go see what that was, aren't we?"

Jerath sighed. "Yes."

"It's going to be something huge, and it's going to try to eat us."

"Yes."

"And we are going to kill it."

"Yes."

"I love being a Warden."