I am soooo sorry it took so long for me to put up this chapter! x_x I kept getting writer's block or I was so busy that I didn't have time to work on it, so it delayed me in uploading the new chapter. :( It's up now, though, so enjoy!

Chapter Warnings: None.

"…vran… Zevran, wake up."

I slowly opened my eyes upon hearing the voice calling out to me. Realizing that I was face-to-face with Lanacai, I grinned in a manner that I hoped was more mischievous than sleepy.

"Now why can't I wake up like this every morning?" I questioned, sounding completely serious. I laughed when Lanacai rolled his eyes.

"I was beginning to worry that you weren't going to wake up," he said sincerely, smiling a bit. I couldn't help but feel a bit warm inside when Lanacai admitted that he was worried about me. I yawned quietly and sat up, stretching and feeling surprisingly refreshed in spite of all I had been put through in the Fade.

"We need to find the Litany," Wynne said suddenly, sounding very weary.

"I believe Niall said it was on his—" Alistair trailed off when he saw Leliana pointing at the body we had seen upon arriving. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was in fact Niall. I knelt down beside the body and searched it, soon finding the object we were looking for. I examined it curiously, raising an eyebrow at how ordinary it looked.

"This is the Litany of Adralla?" I questioned incredulously while experimentally turning it over in my hands. "It just looks like any other dusty old scroll…"

"That may be true," Wynne began, "but it possesses the power to deter a blood mage's attempts to control one's mind. If we wish to defeat Uldred, we must use it."

"We don't have any time to lose," Lanacai interrupted, taking the Litany from me and looking at it thoughtfully. "Let's go."

We proceeded deeper into the tower more cautiously than we had been, having to stay even more alert so that we would not fall victim to yet another sloth demon that may have been lurking around. I had experienced enough of the Fade to last a lifetime and I had no intention of going back.

After climbing staircase after staircase, we finally found a survivor of the madness. The room we found him in was by far the most gruesome we had seen so far in the tower. Strange masses of some sort of fleshy substance covered the floor; blood was sprayed on the walls and even the ceiling while indistinguishable body parts and internal organs littered the chamber. It was almost a sick parody of how a rambunctious child might have a tantrum and make a mess with his toys to spite his parents. To the right of the door we had just entered through was some kind of magical barrier and on the other side of it was a young and very frightened templar. Judging from the fact that he was kneeling with his hands clasped and his head lowered, he was praying to the Maker for his life.

"Ser?" Leliana said, stepping forward. "Are you alright?" I resisted a rather inappropriate chuckle. Yes, Leliana, I thought with some amusement, the man is just fine. Why don't we all just sit and chat over a nice cup of tea? It's not as though the room is covered in blood and there's a barrier separating him from us, or anything…

The man looked up at the sound of Leliana's voice, narrowing his eyes angrily when he saw us. There was so much anger and fear in his gaze that I just had to feel sorry for him.

"Foul creatures!" he screamed at us. "Why won't you just kill me like you killed the others? I'm right here! Why must you drag out this torture? What is your purpose in keeping me alive?"

"Cullen, relax!" cried Wynne. "We are not blood mages. We are here to help! Do you not recognize me?"

Cullen squinted at her, some uncertain recognition coloring his features. "Wynne…? N-No, it can't be… Those accursed blood mages would have gotten you already! None of this is real; those damned creatures are just messing with my mind again. I-I'll just close my eyes and you'll all disappear." The fool stayed true to his words and shut his eyes tight, blocking us from his vision. I felt a little insulted: even if Cullen had imagined me, why in the world would he try to block out the sight of someone of such perfection?

A few minutes later the templar's eyes opened again and when he realized that we had not disappeared, he looked thoroughly confused.

"I don't understand… That has always worked before…"

"Now are you satisfied that we are the real thing?" questioned Lanacai, sounding somewhat annoyed. I couldn't blame him for being annoyed, really.

"W-Well… you can't blame me for being cautious after what those… those… monsters did to my friends…"

"Your…? Oh, you mean the bloody mess?" I asked, eyes widening with mock surprise.

"Yes!" Cullen choked a bit as he spoke, seeming dangerously close to tears. "They tried to find ways to break us… Those beasts ripped them apart, and they made me watch! They left me here behind this accursed barrier and went up to the Harrowing Chamber. The sounds coming from up there… Oh, Maker!"

"That's why we're here," said Lanacai in a way that was almost as though he were trying to soothe a frightened child. "We're here to stop Uldred from taking over the tower."

"Cullen," began Wynne seriously with a frown, "where is Irving? Do you know?"

"H-He's in the Harrowing Chamber," Cullen answered, flicking his gaze nervously to Wynne. "But… there's no way he could still be alive! Or, at the very least, hasn't yet been turned into an abomination himself!" Cullen got to his feet, looking at Lanacai with the utmost urgency in his eyes.

"Listen to me," he said firmly. "The Circle is finished. Those blood mages need to be killed, and so do Irving and the other mages. It is too late for them! Either they have become blood mages themselves… or they have been turned into abominations. There is no other way!"

"He is still in shock," said Alistair seriously with a frown, looking at Cullen with pity.

"I am here to save whoever can be saved," Lanacai stated, crossing his arms and frowning at Cullen disapprovingly. "If Irving and the others can be saved… then I will gladly do so."

"Were you not listening to me?" Cullen cried. "To ensure that this nightmare is ended, you must kill everyone up there!"

"I would rather spare a maleficar than kill an innocent." I admired Lanacai's strength and determination. Under the circumstances, even I may have done what Cullen suggested. Lanacai was convinced that the Circle could still be saved, though, and I would follow him on whatever path he decided to take.

"No one ever listens," Cullen grumbled grudgingly, glaring coldly at Lanacai. "At the very least, be careful." That was the last thing said between Cullen and our little group before we ascended the stairs to the Harrowing Chamber. I didn't know what sort of horror awaited us on the other side of that large door… but I had a bad feeling.

It seemed that the bad feeling I had gotten outside of the Harrowing Chamber had been warranted after all. Our first sight upon entering the chamber was of two abominations and two mages, one of whom was bound around the wrists by magical shackles that appeared to be suspending him in midair. The other was a bald man with a weasely sort of face and beady eyes full of evil intent: Uldred. He and the abominations appeared to be torturing the bound mage, wrenching bloodcurdling screams from him as pain shot through his body. A minute later, Uldred took hold of the man's chin and leered at him.

"Do you accept the gift I offer?" he questioned, smirking and revealing slightly crooked teeth. The frightened and pained mage in captivity nodded his head and I watched with the others, sickened, as he was thrown to the ground and both abominations and Uldred threw wave after wave of magic at him. Within a very short period of time, another abomination was added to the small group right before our very eyes.

Uldred seemed to have already been aware of our presence in the chamber and slowly turned to face us, grinning with sick satisfaction at his evil deeds.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Guests? I am surprised you made it this far. However, the fact that you are here must mean that my minions are dead. How unfortunate." Uldred's speech was as smooth as glass and as unpleasant as a snake's hiss. It sent a chill through me.

"Stop this, Uldred!" Wynne yelled angrily at him, stepping forward bravely and looking like she wanted to throttle him to death. "Why are you doing this?"

"Ah, dear Wynne… how nice of you to join us! As for why I am doing all this, I am merely awakening our full potential. Mages are merely the larval form of something much greater. Only when a mage has become an abomination has his full potential fully awakened within him. It is truly a beautiful sight, is it not, Irving?" He looked over at one of the mages tied up to one side of the Harrowing Chamber, an old- and feeble-looking man: the First Enchanter.

"By the Maker, what have you done to him?" Wynne screamed.

"You're insane!" snapped Lanacai, drawing out his sword and holding it in front of him threateningly. "How can you toy with the lives of these mages so easily and feel no remorse whatsoever? It is disgraces like you who are the reason templars are needed!"

"Your words sting me like many thousands of bees, my good man. Blood magic is not only good for creating more powerful mages… but it also has other practical uses." Uldred's grin widened. "Join me, and I can use the life force of these fools to make you much stronger. The strength of no other man would be able to compare!"

"Don't do it," said Irving suddenly in a very weak voice, shaking in his bindings as though he were fighting something away in order to speak. "You mustn't… let him… Uldred… must be stopped…"

"Irving, you naughty boy. And here I thought you were under my control at last. Such a shame… though I suppose that's to be expected from the First Enchanter."

"I would never resort to such evil bargains in order to increase my own power, wretch," growled Lanacai suddenly, his expression almost murderous in its intensity. I was glad that I was not the one such a gaze was aimed at. "What you are doing is disgusting, and you will pay for all of the lives that have been lost here with your own!" As if cued to do so by his words, we drew our weapons, stepping closer to Uldred and his abominations. There would be no more idle conversation, and I had no issue with that at all. I was itching to spill that creep's blood all over the floor and on my blades.

Uldred's expression became threatening and he seemed to get even uglier, if that was even possible. "You would have been better off just accepting what I had to offer, boy!"

And just like that, the battle had commenced. Spells were thrown in equal measure from both sides, neither side willing to give in to the other. I was alarmed and momentarily floored when I saw Uldred turn into an abomination himself, though it was much more monstrous and deformed than the others in the room. When I had regained myself, though, I ran at the beast and began cutting away at his legs, rolling out of the way whenever he swiped at me with his claws. At one time, Uldred's claws grazed me across the back and sliced right through my leather armor, causing me to yelp in pain as four shallow gashes were left across my back. Blood oozed from the wounds, and although they were not fatal, they still hurt more than I would have liked. I braced myself to dodge again when I saw Uldred about to lash out at me again, but I filled with some amount of relief when I saw Alistair stab his longsword deep into Uldred's back, resulting in a loud shriek of pain from the latter. I nodded gratefully at him to acknowledge the help he had given me, and he reciprocated the action with a grin.

Suddenly, Wynne cried out in alarm and when I turned to see where she was pointing, I could see a strange circle of light beginning to surround one of the wounded mages on the other side of the room.

"Lanacai, use the Litany before he can take control of that mage! Quickly!" she shouted, shooting a jet of fire out of the end of her staff to destroy one of the abominations that had just gone for her. I ran after Lanacai as he went to assist the mage, smirking at him when he sent a questioning glance my way.

"I'll cover you while you help the mage," I stated, wincing a bit as my movements caused a bolt of pain to shoot through my injuries. "And hurry, would you? I don't much like the idea of having to fight more abominations!"

"Right. Thank you, Zevran." Lanacai ran quickly to the mage's side and as soon as he took hold of the Litany of Adralla, the circle of light around the mage disappeared. Well, I thought, I suppose it isn't just any ordinary old scroll, after all.

Judging from the horrific roar that tore itself from Uldred's throat, he wasn't too pleased by his control over the mage being thwarted by the Litany. He made a beeline right toward Lanacai and myself and I braced myself, my grip tightening on my daggers.

Wait for it… Wait for it…

Once Uldred was close enough, I smirked and dove towards the opening between the beast's legs, rolling underneath him and ending up behind him. I winced again at the sensation of the floor irritating the gashes on my back when I rolled, but I tried to ignore it and spun around quickly, jumping up onto Uldred's back and digging my blades deep into his flesh. I relished in the roar of agony that escaped him as I used my blades to climb further up his back, laughing all the while. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw yet another mage become surrounded by that white light from before. Uldred was getting desperate.

"Lanacai!" I called down to him, jerking my head in the direction of the endangered mage since my hands were too preoccupied with inflicting pain upon Uldred to point. With not a moment's hesitation, Lanacai hurried over to the other mage, quickly dispelling Uldred's attempts to control him by using the Litany. Enraged by his power being rendered useless for a second time, Uldred began barreling toward Lanacai with his claws raised, prepared to crush him into a bloody pulp.

"I don't think so!" I yelled, managing to balance myself on the abomination's back for a few seconds before slamming the sharp points of both my daggers deep into the sides of Uldred's neck. Blood sprayed out in a gruesome fountain onto the polished stone floor below us and a terrible, ear-splitting shriek spilled forth from Uldred's sharp-toothed jaws. The abomination started thrashing, waving his claws around and trying to reach back with them to knock me off his back. I ducked quickly, narrowly avoiding those sharp claws.

I managed to catch sight of a very angry Lanacai running right toward Uldred with his sword raised threateningly, a mighty battle cry leaving him. I could tell from the louder roar Uldred released that Lanacai must have plunged that mighty blade deep into his flesh, and sure enough, I saw Lanacai run right past Uldred and stop a few feet away a few moments later, brandishing a very bloody sword. I felt Uldred's movements become more sluggish under me, and then his knees buckled as he collapsed to the ground. I held onto my daggers tightly, cringing when the shock caused by the impact jolted my injuries. Only when I was absolutely certain that Uldred was dead, I yanked my blades out of his flesh and jumped down off his back, rolling my shoulders to relieve my tense muscles before slipping my daggers back into the sheaths strapped across my back. Because of how they criss-crossed across my back, Uldred's claws had somehow missed them when he had attacked me.

"It's over," Wynne said with obvious relief in her voice, using her sleeve to wipe some sweat from her brow with a small smile on her face. She looked over toward her fellow mages and hurried over to them, the rest of us close behind her.

Irving looked up at Wynne upon hearing her approach and smiled gratefully at her. He looked so tired, and I could understand why. Who knew how long Uldred had been keeping him tied up there in the Harrowing Chamber, forcing him to watch his fellow mages be turned into abominations? I pulled out a smaller dagger that I only ever used in emergencies and proceeded to cut the ropes binding each of the mages. Once I had cut Irving free, he moved his hands in front of him and rubbed each of his wrists, frowning.

"Thank you," he said wearily. "My hands were starting to go numb…" He turned his attention back to Wynne then, his wrinkled face softening into an expression of gratitude. "I am glad you're safe, Wynne. I was afraid Uldred's abominations had gotten to you, too."

"I did not give them the opportunity," she responded, kneeling beside him and smiling. "Irving, Uldred didn't hurt you, did he?"

"He did… though the wounds aren't too serious. Just some bruises and cuts here and there…" With Wynne's help, Irving got to his feet and winced slightly upon doing so.

"Come… I must tell Greagoir that the tower is secure once again, but I will need some help going down the stairs. Ugh… curse whoever decided to house the Circle in a tower…"

"Irving! You're alive!" Greagoir exclaimed upon ordering the doors to be opened after hearing Irving calling out for him from the other side to do so. "I thought those abominations would have gotten you by now… What a relief that they did not."

"The tower is ours once more, Greagoir," Irving assured with a weak smile and moving to stand on his own after leaning on Lanacai and Alistair the entire way back down to the bottom floor of the tower. "Uldred has been killed, and so have the other abominations and demons that had been set loose upon the tower."

"Lies!" I turned my head and raised an eyebrow at the angry templar that had just stormed out after us, and I recognized him as Cullen, the templar who had tried telling us to kill everyone in the Harrowing Chamber. He certainly didn't look happy, looking at Greagoir urgently with almost wild eyes.

"How do you know Irving has not been turned into abomination?" he demanded, glaring at him with distrust. "There could be a demon inside of him right now, lying in wait!"

"Give it a rest already," I heard Alistair grumble next to me, and I couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"Enough, Cullen," commanded Greagoir harshly, frowning deeply at the younger templar. Cullen fell silently, though he still looked less than pleased. "If Irving says we have won back the tower, I believe him." Greagoir turned his attention toward Irving then, a slight smile lighting up his features. "I am glad to see you safe, Irving."

Irving chuckled, the corners of his kind eyes wrinkling slightly as he smiled at the templar commander. "Thank you, Greagoir. I'm sure we'll be at each other's throats again in no time." With that, he walked away, no doubt to check on the other mages who had survived the attack on the tower.

"Thank you for your help, Warden," Greagoir said suddenly. "We would not have been able to win back the tower without you."

"I'm glad I was able to help," Lanacai said with a grin, crossing his arms. "However… there is still the matter of the Blight at hand. Can I count on you and your templars to assist us in the coming battle?"

"I regret to say that I cannot comply with your request," Greagoir said apologetically with a sigh. "My men and I must remain here and keep watch over the mages to ensure that nothing like this happens again… but the mages are free to assist you if they wish. You should ask Irving."

"I'll be sure to do that. Thank you." Lanacai and Greagoir shook hands before Lanacia walked over to Irving, and we all followed him. After the Warden said his name to get the First Enchanter's attention, Irving turned to face us.

"Ah, the Grey Wardens. I wish to thank you for everything you have done for the Circle. You have our eternal gratitude."

"It was nothing. However, I wish to request something from you, if I may."

"You may ask whatever you'd like."

"As you know, another Blight is upon us," Lanacai began, his expression grim. "My friends and I came here in the hopes that you may be able to assist us in the fight against the archdemon."

"The Circle was nearly destroyed by Uldred's attempts to take over the tower," Irving stated, a small frown upon his wizened face. "We have much to do here if we're going to restore the tower to its former glory. However… I can promise you the assistance of whatever Circle mages remain in the battle against the Blight. Think of it as repayment for helping us."

"If I may, Irving," Wynne interrupted, smiling at the old mage, "I would like to accompany the Warden and his friends."

"Wynne, we need you here."

"That may be true… but with the Blight just on the horizon, I am also needed elsewhere."

A few minutes of silence passed by and finally, Irving sighed and smiled a bit at Wynne. "You always were one to fancy the world outside the tower. Very well, Wynne. I give you leave to go, provided the Warden will have you." I watched as Wynne looked at Lanacai expectantly, clearly hoping that he would welcome her into our group. Personally, I hope he accepted her offer to help us. For a woman of her age, she was rather attractive.

Finally, Lanacai smiled at Wynne kindly and nodded. "I would be honored if you accompanied us, Wynne."

"Thank you, Lanacai," she said gratefully with a light laugh. "And don't worry; I won't slow you down."

"Well, I think it's time we were off," Lanacai said to Irving, turning his attention back toward the exhausted old mage. "I wish you the best of luck in rebuilding the Circle, Irving."

"Thank you. May the Maker watch over you, Grey Warden."

With our farewells established, we left the tower and took the little rowboat back to shore, leaving the massive tower behind us. My wounds were beginning to bother me even more now… but I wasn't about to complain. One as awesome as myself never complains. No… the ability to make complaints had been beaten out of me years ago. At the rather amusing thought of Lanacai giving me thirty lashes for complaining about something stupid, I felt my face get hot.

Oh, don't be ridiculous. Wishful thinking never helped anyone.

End of chapter 11. Hope you enjoyed it! :) Now, depending on if writer's block decides to kick my $$ again or not, I will have the next chapter up a.s.a.p.

See you next chapter!