"I am absolutely starving." Alistair complained again, plodding in his footsteps. Surely Redcliffe couldn't be much further, surely it was almost over. They had been walking for three days without food, and only water from streams they encountered on the way. They had been hoping to restock in Lothering, but after that had failed their supplies had dwindled within a day, and now they at a loss.
"We are all hungry, Alistair." Morrigan snapped, her arms folded as she tried to mask the pain. Her stomach shook, swallowing itself under the threat of weakness and death. It didn't help that Alistair hadn't shut up the whole of the time. It wasn't that she didn't like the man, he seemed good and strong, but it was that he didn't use his strength. He instead fell prey to weakness and whining about his every problem, hoping like a child that problems would solve themselves.
"Se détendre!" Leliana held up her hands, and stepping between them. "We aren't far from Redcliffe castle now, and I'm sure they will have plenty for all of us. Right, Mara?" She asked, turning her head.
Mara was standing utterly still, a good distance behind them.
"Something's wrong." She gasped, fighting to stay on her feet. Pounding, beating, a drum at the edge of her mind, her breath was cut short as it began.
"Mara?" She heard a voice, indistinct, and she couldn't even tell who it belonged to as she fell to her knees. It was like a blinding flash for her senses, a ringing in her ears shaking her world. She couldn't feel her knees dug into the dirt, nor the wind around her.
"And the world comes tumbling down." A hiss rung past her ear, and she couldn't move, unable to breathe, her chest caught into a tightly wound knot that left her unable to breathe. "How long did you think you and your Wardens could run?" It was a voice that was vaguely familiar, but… implacable. It sounded like Faith, but different…
It struck her, and she fell unconscious, crashing into the dirt.
A stunned silence fell over the group as they watched Mara fall to her knees, mumbling incoherent words before falling down face-first.
Leliana was the first to recover, dashing over to Mara's side and kneeling by her, checking her neck. "She's alive." She gasped in relief, her heart beating just a little easier. "She's unconscious, I think. Still breathing."
"What in the world just happened?" Alistair asked, dumbfounded as he knelt by Leliana's side. "She was just fine, and then..." He shook his head. "We can't just leave her here. Come on, we're almost at Redcliffe, we can find a safe place for her, and look for help if she doesn't wake up."
Leliana nodded emphatically, and slung Mara over her shoulder.
Mara suddenly felt awareness flooding back, and desperately tried to scramble to her feet only a moment before realizing she was asleep, or at least in the Fade.
"Welcome." That voice came again, the same one she had heard, it's spirit close. Scrambling, she mentally summoned the image of her and Faith's meeting place, home with a roaring fire keeping away the rainstorm outside. This was her safe place, this image of faux reality, and surely she could face anything here. "I apologize for your… abrupt arrival, but we needed to talk." Mara wasn't soon to forget this voice of this… thing. It was like sandpaper was being dragged across her skin, nails dragging across a stone wall. It felt as if this thing was… a singularity of everything wrong in the world, as if it had taken all that Mara idolized and perverted it beyond recognition.
"Whatever you're selling," Mara folded the arms she envisioned she had, shaping the reality of this place with her sheer willpower. "I'm not buying. Whatever you think you're going to do, forget about it."
"I like your attitude." It chuckled, and it felt… unpleasantly close to her, as if it had stepped close enough for her to feel it's breath, almost close enough to bring up old memories… memories of the Circle. "Listen to me. I… find myself at a loss, with your arrival. I am here to present you… something of a business opportunity."
Mara shook off the feeling of fear, and instead focused on the one thing she knew she would always have. Faith, strength to cling onto no matter what happened. She pushed it away, facing off against it. "Save your breath." She commanded, reminded herself that spirits and demons weren't the only ones who held sway within the Fade. "Or whatever it is that you breathe. I'm not interested."
"Come now," It soothed, trying to step closer only to find it held away by her will. "This is a unique situation, wherein I am at a certain disadvantage. A mage of your capabilities? Could surely destroy me without a second thought. All I ask is that you listen. If you don't like what I offer, I could not possibly contain you, prevent you from leaving. But that would leave you quite the poor guest, no?"
Mara sighed, nodding a little. It was trying to flatter her, obviously, and that was information that she could use, a clue that gave credence to it's identity. "Go ahead." She folded her arms in her imagination. Whatever it said, she wasn't about to start a battle, lest she be taken by surprise, and if she listened she could find any information it let slip.
"Thank you." She felt an emotion through the Fade that was best described as a wicked smile, and her skin crawled as if a wave of dirt and insects had washed over her. "Now, I am currently… conducting business, in Redcliffe. You and your companions' presence is… an inconvenience. Now, I had considered killing you, but… you are a Spirit Healer, yes? A powerful mage, here in the Fade, as well as in your world. Now, I have much power at my disposal. Not as much as you, mind you, but still… I know some things, things that could help you fight off the Darkspawn."
"Make your point." She insisted. She didn't know the term, Spirit Healer, but it… sounded right, like it described what Faith had taught her, before. That had saved her leg. The information made her skin grow more uncomfortable, a whisper in the back of her mind that she was making a mistake, a twitch in her eye.
"Simply put, I can give you what you need. You name your price, and it shall be granted. In exchange, you and your companions leave Redcliffe, never to return. Whatever you came to find, you shall seek it elsewhere."
"I can't do that." She shook her head, reality and fantasy blending into one coherent existence. "We came to Redcliffe to seek out Arl Eamon and his army, and I shall not leave until we have them." A wave of relief washed over her as she spoke. Those were her words, definitively, not those of some demon. Coherence, intelligence, willpower… she was able to stand alone against it, and whatever intent it had.
"Why settle for an army of mortal men?" It asked, trying to step close once again to find the same result. "What I am doing will give me… influence, here in the Fade. I could agree to come to your aid instead of Eamon. I would have an army of undead, of spirits, of ancient, forgotten gods themselves! What are a few soldiers in the face of such potential. I offer this, this unlimited potential to you, free of charge. All you need do is not do what you and your companions angle to do."
"You offer it because you are afraid." She countered coldly. She could hear it in it's voice, feel it's spirit tremble and shake itself ever so slightly, quivering, silently begging.
"Yes, of course." It's voice grew lighter, relieved, as if she had grasped it's point. "Of a mage like you? There is little doubt I should be petrified of you, and your power. But there are things that I, as a resident of the Fade, can accomplish that is beyond even your prowess, simply because you inhabit a different world. I am offering to… partner with you. I ask a small favour now, and when you face your Darkspawn, I return it with interest."
"If what you say is true..." Mara's voice was soft, cold and thoughtful, every letter thought out as it if it could cause her death. Because it could, and likely would. "And ignoring any possible moral issues that would arise from this deal… and I grant you this… impossible power, then you become more powerful than me, and your reason for having spared me is rendered moot, and I have no reason to trust you. If what you say is untrue, then I have no reason to help you."
"You are a clever one." It chuckled. A moment later it brought mana forward, but not before Mara smashed it with a wave of her own power, washing it away. She smiled a little to herself. She didn't relish fighting in any way, but it felt good to stand up for herself, to cut down upon those who tried to hurt her.
But now she stood here, trapped in the Fade, unable to awaken.