Yay, it's finally done. Now back to the actual story.

Interlude II

(The Fade, cont.)

Again the light faded. As always it was replaced with some part of the Circle. This one appeared to be a private office, most likely one of the senior enchanter's areas. There were two mouseholes, which he ignored, and a door which he went through. The hall was curved as always and behind each door he could hear the sounds of mages talking. He considered going through and trying to talk to someone, but as the sound of fighting emerged from one he thought better of it. The last door was open, so Alim peaked inside, and rapidly ducked back as a spell slammed into the wall next to him.

Inside were a group of four mages all trying to kill each other, and doing a poor job of it. Alim sped up the process with a Mana Clash spell. Through the next door he was set upon almost immediately by three insane servants, each wielding a knife. A fast wave of lightning killed them. Alim stopped over one and recognized the face of a woman who had generally been kind to him at meals.

He said a quick prayer over her; the demons had driven almost everyone insane with this place. He quickly left, not wanting to linger over what he had done. The next room was blocked by a pool of fire, which Alim answered by coating himself in flames. In the next room four rage demons emerged from the fireplaces. They quickly charged, and Alim felt the blinding rage from his previous encounter with such a creature rising. He pushed it down and answered by charging them. Cloaked in flames as he was it was almost impossible for them to even touch him as Alim methodically destroyed each one.

No sooner were the demons gone then six mages from the next room rushed at him. Alim cut them all down with a single Mana Clash and saw a girl he had once had a crush on fall dead. Beside her lay the body of an enchanter he had once helped by clearing out her storeroom. Slowly the guilt over what he was doing died down and Alim kept going. The next room saw a group of four mages discussing causing pain. Alim struck them down before they even noticed he was there.

Among the bodies was a young elf student who had once talked to him about his plans when he became an enchanter. Across from him was the body of an old man who had once signed the authorization for a Rod of Fire. The third person he didn't recognize, but the fourth was a young girl he had once persuaded that her magic wasn't a curse.

Alim choked back tears, but headed up the stairs. He had a job to do after all.

At the top of the stairs was a single, sane, mage battling two golems and three Chantry priestesses. The man was obviously being overwhelmed when Alim joined the battle. He transformed into a pride demon and punched the head off of one golem before beginning to brawl with the other. After some work, and a broken arm, Alim's pride demon form destroyed the golem and he returned to his normal look.

He went down on one knee, and rubbed his face. As the pain cleared away Alim looked up and saw the mage he'd been trying to help was dead, succumbing to the injuries the priestesses had inflicted. Alim said a quick prayer over his body and crossed the room to the next set of stairs. He looked at them for a moment, then looked at the way he had come. Both sets of stairs went upwards.

Alim proceeded up the stairs, muttering to himself, "I really hate this place."

At the top of the stairs was another empty room, the exit blocked by a locked door. With a curse Alim turned back into a pride demon and punched it down. On the other side were two more priestesses. Without even slowing Alim threw them into a wall. They hit, slid to the floor, and lay still.

Farther down the hall Alim ran into another golem. Still in his pride demon form he charged against it. The golem met him with a punch to the stomach with all its might. There was a definite sound of breaking bones; at least he assumed they were bones, and a horrible pain. Alim's demon form roared in rage and smashed a fist against the golem. There was a crunch as the stone gave way, but the golem simply responded by pulling a massive chunk of masonry out of a wall and bashing Alim on the head with it.

In retaliation Alim slammed his arm into the golem and knocked it down. With another roar he smashed a foot down on the golem's leg and watched in satisfaction as it crumbled. Not ready to be destroyed so easily the golem tried to stand, but succeeded only in pulling Alim down on top of it as the other leg couldn't balance correctly. With a final move Alim transformed back into himself and blasted the golem with lightning. The creature thrashed twice, then the head crumbled away.

With the golem inactive Alim stopped for a few minutes to catch his breath. These islands were getting harder, which meant the last one would be a nightmare. The next room held only an Arcane Horror. He almost laughed as a mana clash destroyed it before the demon even knew he was there.

Finally he opened a last door and found himself facing an abomination. The beast roared and charged at him. Alim was so caught up in the moment he missed the spell it had already cast until it slammed into him. The bolt of magic picked Alim up into the air and slammed him back into a wall. There was a crunch as a rib cracked, and Alim went down on one knee. He looked up and threw himself sideways to avoid the demon shredding him, but felt the pain in his chest flare suddenly. It was almost overwhelming, but Alim threw it off long enough to transform into a spirit. The pain faded and he lashed out with a sword he had conjured. The abomination took the blade, but in return it ripped a gash in what would have been his arm. There was pain, but nothing he hadn't already dealt with.

A moment later Alim returned to his human self, restored by the transformation, and launched a lightning bolt against the abomination as it moved to cast another spell. His electric blast stopped whatever spell the abomination had been preparing, so instead it charged again. In desperation Alim threw a forcefield around the abomination to stop the charge, and then began to think about what he could do.

The field came down sooner than he would have hoped, but Alim shot another blast of lightning into the abomination as it began moving again. As it reached him Alim dove aside, only to have the claws carve a gash in his leg. The leg gave out as Alim tried to stand up, so he finally threw another mana clash against the demon. It screeched as its own power was turned against it, and after a few moments collapsed. With a final gesture Alim shot further lightning bolts into the abomination before it ceased moving. Another quake began and Alim grabbed the pedestal.

The light faded to reveal Wynne, standing over a pile of dead apprentices. Alim couldn't name most of them, but knew Wynne had always prized her students above anything else. She looked up at him, tears flowing freely and asked, "Why, why did this happen? I thought we were going to save them."

Alim said in what he hoped was a soothing tone, "We will. Nothing here is real. They are all still alive."

The old woman looked down at the bodies and continued as if she hadn't heard. "I failed, don't you see. I swore we would save them. Yet here we stand, alone. The Wardens abandoned us. Left us to the Templars while we fought amongst ourselves."

Aim changed tracks and said, "Then let us go on. There's nothing we can do here, but maybe the living can be saved."

Wynne slowly nodded, "Maybe. We will come back to give them a proper cremation. Let us go for now." As she finished one of the students suddenly rose and in a horrible non-human voice asked, "Wynne. Where are you going? We need you."

She shrieked and turned her staff on him. "What are you?"

Alim chose then to intervene. He raised one hand and blasted the other bodies with lightning. As one the others stood and looked on him with demonic eyes. Wynne stood in shock for a moment before finally piecing everything together. Her eyes blazed as she began attacking the demons who had tricked her. Alim stood back and just watched as Wynne proved why she was a Senior Enchanter.

After three minutes of battle the demons lay dead. Wynne looked up and said, "That felt strange. I couldn't think straight. What is going on?"

Alim laid out what he knew, and what Solana had guessed or theorized. Wynne took it all in before asking, "Then why wouldn't your island collapse?"

Alim blinked and said, "We didn't think of that to be honest. I assume Niall is holding it up. But since there isn't anyone to do that here the islands have to be maintained by the dreamer."

Wynne frowned, but said, "I guess that could be possible. It still doesn't seem right though." Instead of debating further she asked, "So, only one dreamer left?"

Alim nodded. "Yes. So when the next shift occurs go to the sloth demon's hiding place."

Wynne smiled, "Of course."

Alim expected there would be something that resembled the Circle Tower and he wasn't disappointed. There were bookshelves… and a table with someone who had obviously been tortured to death. Okay, he thought, maybe not quite like the Circle then. If the other areas had been nightmares of each of them this must mean this place would be a nightmare for the last member of their little band of nuts, the one the leader seemed to think knew way too much. If that was the case, what might be here?

His question was answered as soon as he pushed open a door and was hit in the chest by, something. He stumbled back out of the way and saw a dozen holes in his torso. As consciousness started to fade Alim transformed himself into a pride demon to banish the wounds.

Thinking quickly Alim turned into a mouse and poked his head around the door. Blocking off the passageway was a mass of metal wires with sharpened points attached to it. Behind that was a long tube sticking out of sandbags. None of it looked familiar, but Alim decided not to try going that way again.

Instead he turned and scurried into a mouse hole he had ignored on arrival. After a short passage the hole emerged into another room where a dozen men stood with short weapons, which sort of looked like metal crossbows, without the bow. One of the men pointed at him, and the others raised their weapons. With a quick though Alim transformed back into a pride demon and the men began shooting. There were bursts of incredible noise before Alim ripped the first two men from where they stood and threw them amongst the others.

With a roar he went slammed into the rest. One by one they died, but the amount of damage his body was taking was unbelievable. When the last one ceased twitching, Alim started to sway, the damage taken by even his pride demon form enough to make him want to pass out. Alim barely managed to call up enough willpower to change back into a mouse. The wounds vanished as he did so, and Alim went into the next mousehole. It emerged in another empty room, with only one door leading out. Alim transformed back into a human to open it, but stood aside as he pushed it open. There was a roar and the sound of impacts on a wall, but they died down quickly as whoever was shooting realized there was no one there.

After a quick thought Alim decided to turn into a spiritual form, which might be able to ignore whatever was being shot at him. He stepped out and there was another roar as they began shooting again, but this time he felt nothing as whatever was being fired went through him. Realizing his advantage Alim raced forward, passing through the fencing as he did so. He kept going through the sandbags and launched lightning into the people on the other side. They screamed for a moment before falling. At the end of the hallway stood another sealed door.

Alim transformed into his pride demon form, then smashed it down. No sooner was it opened than an ogre charged him. This beast though wasn't the kind he had read about though. This one was armored and held a massive weapon. The weapon was roaring with a horrible sound. It was a long blade attached to a handle that was a lot bigger than it should have been. A moment later Alim found at why. The blade slammed into his shoulder, and he could feel the blade moving of its own accord beneath it. He raised a hand and smashed it into the ogre's face as it tried to push the blade downwards. As it stumbled backwards he grabbed the weapon in his other hand and slammed it into the ogre's neck. There was a screech of metal on metal as the ogre's armor disintegrated under the blow, then the crack of bone breaking. Blood sprayed from the ogre's neck and it died as the blade severed its head.

Alim dropped the weapon and returned to his spirit form and crossed through the now visible door. He emerged to another empty room, then one with an Arcane Horror. The foe was easily dispatched with a mana clash, before Alim returned to Pride Demon to smash another door open. Inside he found himself facing another group of people, this time armed with slightly larger weapons. They turned and there was a blast of fire from them, but Alim's demon form took the hits. He reached down and grabbed one man, crushing him in his claws, then dove back behind the door. He returned to human form and looked at the weapon he was still holding. With a slight smile Alim pointed it into the room and fired. The force of it almost broke an arm, but three people lay shredded by whatever it had fired. Not wanting to risk using he weapon again Alim turned spiritual, drew the sword he conjured in this form and charged. With no way of touching him the men died in moments. As the last one fell Alim returned to his human form and stepped through a Fade door.

He appeared in a burning room, and as his clothes caught fire Alim wrapped a shield of flames around himself to pass through. No sooner was he through than another pair of Arcane Horrors stood against him. Alim rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers to cast another mana clash spell. They died under the spell and Alim continued on. Waiting for him was a pair of armored ogres. One carried a massive weapon, the other carrying a blade like the last one. The first ogre pointed the long cylinder at him and began opened fire. Another roar came and Alim transformed himself into a spirit. He drew the blade and charged against it, even as the second moved to block his path. The blade came down, and slid harmlessly off the ogre's armor.

Alim swore, but transformed into a pride demon. He ripped the weapon from the ogre, then blasted it at point-blank range. The beast roared in pain, but the weapon did its work well. Within a second the ogre lay dead. The second one however was now close enough to fight him. He swung the weapon to fire on it, but the blade it carried sliced the weapon apart. Alim changed tactics and rammed the now pointy cylinder into the ogre's chin. The armor gave way and the weapon drove through.

Even as it did so the blade of its weapon hit Alim's leg. He roared, but drew the weapon out to stab down into the brain of the beast. Again the armor gave way and the ogre stumbled. Alim took advantage of its weakness to grapple the blade away and he used it to cut the ogre's head off. As the ogre died Alim returned to his human form and gasped for air. He sat there for a moment to catch his breath before going through what he knew to be the final door. Waiting for him was a desire demon who said, "Catch me if you can."

She turned into a mouse and dove into a waiting tunnel. Alim sighed and followed her. He emerged to find her waiting on the other side. With another sigh Alim asked, "Do we really have to fight? Give up please. I'm getting really sick of this."

She smiled and said, "Oh? Don't you want to see one of the really great terrors I plucked from the mind of this dreamer?"

He was about to answer, but she ignored him and began to grow. Up and up she went until she stood at least thirty feet tall. Wings sprouted and her head became misshapen. Finally a massive sword appeared in one hand and the desire demon laughed a horrible unnatural sound. She tried to smash him, but Alim ran for the other side of the room. As she turned to begin moving toward him Alim willed himself back into pride demon form. He succeeded, but was less than half her height. As Alim prepared to fight her his mind returned to the ogre's and he generated armor and a weapon for himself. Their blades met in a clash of metal. Alim barely held onto his, but managed to bring it into her leg before the demon could swing again. She screeched and batted him with one wing. Alim answered by grabbing the wing and ripping. The skin came off and the desire demon again screamed.

Finally he slammed a head into her torso, and brought the blade into her other leg. With a crash the demon collapsed and Alim raised the blade to stab her in the chest. Finally he said, "You really should have practiced a little." With that he brought the blade down and the desire demon died. The expected quake occurred and Alim turned back into a human to dive at the pedestal. It flashed and the world was consumed in light.

The island he emerged on was open to the sky. Sitting on a nearby bench was the last member of their party, along with several people he didn't know. They were working on something, and one of them had just finished explaining something when Alim walked up.

The group looked at him and Alim said, "We need to go."

The person he was looking for, Alim couldn't remember his name answered, "Do I know you?"

Alim blinked and said, "Of course. We were working to clear the Tower. A demon trapped us here, we need to keep going."

One of the others laughed, Alim glared at her, but she just smiled and asked, "What? Demons aren't real."

Alim gaped at them. What was this nonsense about? He'd battled demons all his life. Finally he said, "Of course you would say that, demon."

He whirled his staff around toward them, when he found it fly out of his hand. He tried to grab it, but the weapon whirled and fell into William's hand. With a casual motion he snapped it and said, "I know where I am Alim. I don't exist in the Fade naturally after all."

Alim reached a hand out and conjured another staff to replace it and said, "Well, then what are you doing? We need to go."

William's answer chilled him, "No. I don't want to leave. Here I can be with people I care about, and will never get snatched away again."

"But people will die…" Alim started.

William interrupted him before anything more could be said, "Let them. I don't care about what happens to your world. I just want to be home."

Alim blinked, and then punched him. He whirled and shot a bolt of lightning toward the first person, a blonde girl. She stumbled backwards from the blast the blast, then pulled out a weapon similar to those he had seen before. With a dark smile the girl opened fire on him. Alim dodged out of the way and shot another bolt of lightning at her. The rest of the group pulled out similar weapons and attacked as well.

Alim transformed into an armored Pride demon as they fired, the impacts on his armor almost making him fall. With a roar he picked up one and used the squeezed. As he did so the disguise around the demon fell and it tried to attack with magic. He crushed it and threw the demon aside. Yet as it fell one of the others drew out a larger weapon, pointed it and prepared to fire when a sword came out of nowhere to stab them.

The demon dropped the illusion to turn and saw William standing with a sword and smaller weapon than the demons were using. He raised it and shot the demon. It fell, and he stabbed it again. One of the others turned and charged at him.

As it did so Alim caught up another demon and slammed it into the ground. He turned back into a human and blasted the final demon with a wave of lightning. The demon screeched as the power rolled through it. For three second the beast tried to fight before crumpling. He looked over and saw William hacking away at the body of the demon, apparently unaware that it was dead. Finally with a shout of anger he raised the weapon and fired into it until the pistol clicked empty. He threw the weapon and then fell in front of it, screaming at the corpse.

Alim walked over and put a hand on the younger man's shoulder as he began to cry. Finally William said, "I'll never see them again, any of them. This is the last time I'll ever see my friends, family, any of them."

Alim wasn't sure how long he waited, but finally William wiped his eyes and asked in a pained voice, "So, I assume I'm the last one?"

Alim blinked and asked, "Er… How did you know that?"

"I know everything."

"Right… but yes, you're the last. The others should be moving to face the sloth demon as we speak."

William nodded and said, "Then let's finish this. I want out of here, and if we could just not mention this, ever, that would be great."

Alim smiled and said, "Of course not. Now, let's go."

The pair stepped up and touched the pedestal. The light returned for a moment before they found themselves on the Sloth Demon's island. Waiting for them were Alistair, Solona, and Wynne. There was no need for anyone to speak as the group turned to face the demon. It stood in the form of an arcane horror and asked in a tired voice, "Why? Didn't I give you what you wanted?"

Alistair stepped forward and said, "What I want and what I can have are different demon. Now though, I think we can give ourselves what we want fairly easily." He drew his sword and pointed it at the demon. Behind him the three mages readied their staves and William drew out a boxy weapon, similar to the ones Alim had seen before.

The demon vanished to be replaced by an ogre. It smashed one hand into the ground where Alistair had been, but he dodged away before bringing his sword down into its wrist. Behind him Alim shot a blast of lightning at the ogre as Wynne prepared a healing spell. Solona laughed like a maniac before shooting he ogre with a fireball. Next to them William raised his weapon and pulled the trigger. A spray of fire erupted from it, and the ogre's chest and head were suddenly fonts of blood from the impacts. A second later the weapon clicked and he moved to change the ammunition out.

As he did so the ogre was replaced by a rage demon. Before it could do anything Wynne waved a hand and enveloped it in a cone of ice. A moment later she used another ice spell. In near-desperation the sloth demon reached into the minds of those it was fighting and found another form. It grew to massive height, and brandished a massive blade. The demon slammed the sword down where Wynne was standing, but she was pushed aside by a spell from Solona who shot the demon with another fireball. It blinked quickly to clear its vision, then saw the one without a natural link to the Fade lifting a long cylinder to one shoulder. It tried to move, but there was a blast of flame from the back of the weapon, then a projectile slammed into the demon's chest. It burned through and the demon fell, transforming again as it did so.

This time the demon grew again, until it rose as a Juggernaut. The massive golem form slammed a fist into the small group it was fighting, only to be rewarded for its trouble with an explosive slapped on as the fist rose away. A moment later there was a blast and the hand was gone, pieces fell downward, but they missed its opponents.

With a roar the Juggernaut tried to stamp on them, but fell backwards as another rocket hit it in the lower jaw. As the Juggernaut fell the demon tried to transform again. This time it was too weak to settle on any truly threatening form and reverted to the arcane horror. It raised a hand to cast a spell, but Alim struck it with a mana clash. The demon gave another little whimper, and died.

In its death the entire Fade rocked, and the enchantment fell away.

The five found themselves lying on the floor in the Circle. One by one they stood up and looked for any further sign of the demon. There wasn't any. William leaned over and took the Litany of Adralla from the corpse of Niall. As he lifted it for the rest to see Alistair said, "Let's just never mention any of this. Agreed?"

The rest said in unison, "Agreed."