Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon age or Elder Scrolls

Co-Author and Beta: Etheral-23

Against the shadows

Messer and Secunda didn't shine fully that night; the clouds partially hid their splendor. There was electricity in the air, the calm before a battle, a feeling Miara had well gotten used to in her long years of fighting. She could feel the trembling hearts of the people, the fear they carried on their shoulders. A fear of death, of failing to protect their people, of not seeing the light of day.

The dunmer stood in between the line formed by her companions and the knights. Dawnbreaker laid bare, its tip planted upon the ground while she calmly settled her hands the handle's bottom. Her concealed elven ears could hear Leliana uttering a prayer to her god while she took a shining arrow and placed it on the sacred bow. She was not alone in her prayers; many other of the knights joined her with softly uttered oaths of their own, not just to their Maker, but to Redcliffe, to their arl and their family and comrades.

Bann Teagan was not with them, he was with the rest of the militia to organize them were the undead manage to pass through their lines and reach the village. She was sure he was wondering where was Meridia's blessing, something that the dunmer was starting to wonder herself.

She stiffened as she felt a darkness enclosing, whispers of lost spirits maddened by the world around them and the magics that forced them to be trapped in decayed flesh. 'Meridia' Miara tried to contact her through a simple thought, sure that the Prince would hear her. 'Now would be a good time to-'

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden glare of light. Among her companions and the knights, their weapons were shining with shimmering light. Currents of holy energy ran over the blades like waves upon a shore. There were cries of surprise and shock, as they didn't understand what was happening.

"Stand fast" Miara commanded with authority in her voice, authority born through years of leading her legionnaires. "This is the spirit's blessing. Your weapons are now imbued with holy light; they shall burn through the undead until they are ashes"

The knights seemed to find confidence and new find valor in her words. Some of them cheered while others bashed their swords across their shields.

"Well" Alistair said. "That was unexpected" He mumbled while staring at his own blade and how magical light surged around it, it carried a distinctive magical feeling like Miara's sword or the shield he was holding. "But good unexpected, we don't have enough of those"

"Alistair" The dunmer called to him. "Auriel's Shield grants many abilities to the user. Magical armor empowerment, accelerated healing, spell reflection, and great resistance to fire. In short, it turns the bearer nigh invulnerable"

The young Warden stares at the shield with awe. "There's just no way can a single item hold so many enchantments..."

"Normally, you'd be right" She nodded. "But the Shield is no mere artifact. Listen, its greatest power is the ability to absorb the energy behind enemy attacks and send it back. Every five hits gives it a strong enough charge to unleash energy as holy light, it reaches its maximum charge after fifteen hits, so use it wisely if you find yourself surrounded"

Alistair nods as he prepared, Neria kept her gaze up to the windmill; "Will Serana and Shale be alright up there? I mean by themselves against those things."

"Trust me," the hidden elf keeps her focus ahead; "Serana and I are practically even in skill. We focus on our task. And Shale I think is more than capable."

Gripping his sword, Sten narrows his eyes; "They approach."

They all tensed as they saw a foul mist of a green miasma emerge from the hills. Shadowy figures shambled inside it at an erratic pace, growing closer to the village. Before they crossed the bridge, they could see just how outnumbered they were, as from the mist emerged many, many walking corpses.

Some of them wore armor, others were dressed in simple clothing, but all showed signs of decay even though they varied from undead to undead. Rotten flesh, peeling skin, bare bones and missing body parts, some of the undead were just skeletons in old armor. If the Hinterlands had seen as much battle as Miara suspected, then some of those corpses had to be at least centuries old.

"Stand strong!" The leading knight, Ser Perth, shouted. "Set them ablaze!"

Nocking back her arrow, Leliana sets it loose on one charging undead. "Maker guide me," she whispers.

The arrow flew like a falling star in the night, it found its mark on the chest of one of the abominations, and immediately exploded in a burst of light, engulfing the nearby creatures in white flames. The energies of the blast carried enough heat to light up the line of oil they had set up, setting ablaze any undead that passed.

"Loose!" By the command of the knight arrows flew as the undead screeched and howled as their bodies were pierced by the arrows and the fires burned them.

Either by luck, one undead makes it through the volley of arrows and charges at the disguised dunmer whose sword glows almost like a beacon in the night. Letting out a guttural roar, it raises up its rusty sword. The elf easily sidesteps the downward slash retaliating with quick beheading of the corpse.

The corpse was incinerated by blue and golden flames.

"For Redcliffe!" Marcus shouted courageously, inspiring his allies into charging against the monsters. Leliana, Neria, Morrigan and the archers remained behind and sought higher ground to better battle their foes.

The dunmer in disguised crouched the moment she was about the meet the undead head on, and jumped high into the air with agility of an experienced rogue. She landed right over one of the shambling corpses, crushing its head beneath her boot. Miara wasted no time and slashed left and right at any corpse that happened to enter her field of vision. Every so strike Dawnbreaker flared to life, unleashing its righteous anger upon the offense against life, obliterating them.

Yet the undead were many, even if a blast took out dozens at least a dozen more were ready to fight. Her mind entered into a battle trance, honed from long years of combat, planning, evasion, defense, offense; all became lead by pure instinct. She shut away all interference, and paid no mind to the state of her opponents. She didn't let herself be distracted by how they used to be innocent people at some point who had their lives taken and a curse placed upon them. She didn't let herself wallow on how some of them used to be elder and children, they were now mockeries of those they had been in life.

So she held Dawnbreaker and slashed down upon another one, searing holy flames igniting as the blade cleaved through the rotten flesh.

XxX ~ Serana and Shale ~ XxX

Ice spikes flew in waves as the vampire princess takes down any undead corpse trying to enter the village below. A massive boulder passes over her head and collides with several undead, crushing them while sending another few falling off the cliff.

Their front by the windmill was a more difficult path to take to enter the village, as such, most undead had problems while trying to traverse through that road, so only stragglers, though still sizeable in numbers, managed to reach that position.

As one undead tries to slash at Serana, she shifts into bats and reforms behind the monster slicing off its head with her dagger. A feat usually impossible for common mortals, but for a vampire with inhuman strength like Serana, severing a head with nothing but a dagger was quite easy. "You know" She idly comments as if she wasn't in the middle of a battle. "A necromancer like me sees the value in reanimating corpses" The vampire absently incarnates a rather large and armored corpse with a lightning bolt. "Put to the use the bodies of the dead for a greater purpose, preserving their knowledge so it doesn't die with them"

She sidesteps a charging zombie and stabs it through the head. "Not to mention all the possible research through this brand of magic" With a wave of her hand, she casts a wall of ice spikes from underneath the ground, impaling a whole group of undead. "But using them like this is just beneath a necromancer with values, some people may consider that an oxymoron I know" She sniffs and immediately winces. "Ugh, and the smell"

A corpse trashes and screeches as Shale slowly applies pressure over its head with its foot. "Another thing to why golems are superior to fleshy creatures" Bone shards and rotten brain matter splatter all over the ground. "The smell doesn't bother me"

"I wish I didn't have such a good nose" She hefts a corpse by the throat and fills it with dark magic to the point of bursting. She throws it like a ragdoll against a group of charging undead, and smirks in satisfaction as it explodes in a shower of gore and arcane power.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

An undead screech before being sliced in two by Sten. He pays no attention as the corpse burst into flames, as he like Miara goes into a battle trace honed by years of experience and training. He tears through and undead coming his way.

Bran and Loke charge going after their respected prey, the shambling rotten corpses were no match for their powerful jaws as they tore through flesh and bone. Lightning fires from Neria's staff, striking several undead with Morrigan at her back using fire spells.

Faren and Sereda worked in perfect unison, the rogue slashed through the legs of the undead, they fell to their knees or outright pummeled to the ground, giving room for the former princess to finish them off one by one. Marcus crushes the skull of a fallen skeleton under his ebony armored foot, ceasing its screeches.

He twirls his blades on his hands, his family sword and the ebony blade now coated with holy power create spiraling arcs of light, and he brings down his blades upon corpse bearing a great sword. The undead manages to deflect the blades but as Marcus keeps pushing down on him with all his strength he manages slip one of the swords past its defense and pierce its chest. Bright flames erupt from the center.

Suddenly, a screeching undead sneak up behind him, but a shining arrow pierces its head and explodes in a blaze of light. He nods in gratitude to Leliana, who from her place between the archers nods in return before readying another sacred arrow. The bow felt like nothing the bard had ever used before, any arrow, regardless of how much strength she put on her draws, was turned into a missile of death. As proven when the shining arrows pierces through the heavy armor plating of a large corpse and immolated it with light.

Alistair grunted in defiance against the blows from an axe carrying undead which moved with far greater vigor and strength than the other abominations. Its peeling skin, spots of long black hair, swollen dead eyes made for a horrific visage. He held it back as it snapped its jaw at him, seeking to bit his face off. "Ugh you blasted things!" He bashed his shield against the monster, and a burst of light erupted from it, engulfing the creature in holy light. It let out a blood chilling cry as its body slowly disintegrated.

The light shot from the shield hits even further than Miara's light from Dawnbreaker turning a dozen undead into ashes. "Holy shit..." Gin mutters quietly beside Alistair.

"Okay" The senior Warden breathed out. "Maybe Miara wasn't joking about the shield"

"No time for that" The city elf says. Watching as more of the undead gather. He twirls his shining daggers on his hands and shifts into a stance. He darts in between undead, the corpses to slow to react to his fast movements as the daggers slash left and right, holy fire doing far more damage than they usually would with the blessing placed upon them.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

With their backs to each other, Marcus and Miara tear through corpses, the ones they don't kill; holy fire reduces them to ashes. "How many more are there?!" The young Cousland's words stop as a deep inhuman guttural roar make them look to their right.

Rising from the lake, evil glowing red eyes glare. It's height rivaling Sten, wearing golden arm gauntlets, a thick black skirt from the waist down, a large round shield in one hand, a massive sword in its other and a golden helmet over its head. It slowly walks for its prey.

Neria ceases her casting to stare at the creature in shock. "Oh damn, Revenant!" She cried out.

Revenant. One of the most powerful types of reanimated undead, with only the liches seen as more powerful than them. Ancient warriors who even in life had been monsters on the battlefield due to their sheer battle prowess, an undead of hundreds if not thousands of years of age that possessed great physical and magical power, as well as possessing all the finesse and cunning it had in life. The dunmer had fought her fair share of these creatures; the oldest draugrs had been mighty Revenants, masters of combat which also wielded a devastating Thu'um.

Now, Miara was sure there had to be a difference between what a Thedosian and a Tamrielian called a Revenant. Perhaps something involving demons possessing the corpses as she had heard Neria say once. But one thing she was certain was that this creature would be very powerful all the same.

"We fight this thing as one Marcus," the hidden dunmer speaks keeping her eyes fixed on the towering undead creature as it walks towards them.

The young Cousland nods; "Can Dawnbreaker kill that thing?"

"Not with one strike..."

"Hope this doesn't sound brutish of me, but let's just keep hitting it until it dies"

"With things like this that is often the only solution"

Revenant were infuriatingly resistant. She still remembered how a sword of hers broke just by trying to hack the thing to pieces; both rotten flesh and ancient armor had more resistance to physical blows and spells than they had any right to be. Even Dawnbreaker's holy flames could only harm them so much.

She casted a series of spells on Marcus, shrouding him with magical armor empowerment, as well as bolstering his physical abilities and his stamina.

Feeling the magic wash over him, Marcus gave Miara a curt nod before they charged at the thing. Well, Miara shouldn't have bothered anyway at least. As the Revenant suddenly planted its sword on the ground, magical energies lashed out from his now free hand and unto her. They were so strong they managed to bypass her natural defenses against magic, as well as those provided by any amulet she was wearing. She felt the magic leashing her figure like a rope, and Miara suddenly found herself flying straight towards the large undead as the magic pulled her like strings pulled a puppet.

The monster grabbed her by the head the moment she was at reaching distance, with inhuman strength it quickly lifted her and held her leg with the hand of its shield arm. It roared as it lifted her above its head.

'Oh this is gonna hurt...'

The Revenant slammed her body to the ground with the strength of a raging giant. She choked as she felt the air escape her lungs, and the pain seared across her muscles.

Even with the pain her mind still processed a few jumbled thoughts. 'Been awhile since I was hurt like this'. Her gaze managed to catch a glimpse of the Revenant lifting its blade and brings it down on her. 'Shit!' She quickly used the ground to push herself, ignoring the protest of pain she felt on her limbs, barely avoiding the edge of the blade as it stabbed the ground where her head used to be.

Suddenly arrow after arrow impacted on the large undead, but they were deflected by the massive shield. Leliana softly cursed as blasts from Auriel's Bow didn't reach the creature.

The blasts of holy power were kept at bay by the large circular shield, sparks and energies of sunlight spread over it like crashing water. The rogue realizes she did not have to hit it directly, so she purposely aimed at the ground next to its feet. Her eyes widened when the burst of holy energy, which had managed to disintegrate other undead, could only burn its decayed flesh. Yet the creature remained tall, it ignored her as it sought to decapitate the dunmer on the ground.

Miara quickly parried the blade with Dawnbreaker; she rolled on the ground once more, this time further than before. Gaining enough distance for her to stand up. As she stood on her legs she quickly realized the Revenant too close, and brought down its blade on her.

But it was blocked by the Cousland's family sword. "You alright?" Marcus strains holding back the large undead.

Miara only chuckles; "Could kiss you right now if I wasn't fighting for our lives."

The young Cousland only smirks before kicking the Revenant hard to its chest. The force is enough to send it stumbling. "Let's finish this damn thing shall we?"

"Lets"

Without another word, they charged. Miara brought Dawnbreaker down on the Revenant, but the creature parried it and sidestepped her to deflect Marcus' blades with a shield bash. The dunmer spun and slashed diagonally at it only for the Revenant to meet her attack with its sword, she continued to attack but the undead matched her blade blow for blow. She was pushed back by a bash from its shield, and immediately turned to clash its sword against Marcus' family blade and block the other with its shield.

Miara unleashes a burst of telekinetic magic, and pushes the creature away from Marcus. Leliana notches another arrow and fires.

White fire engulfs the beast, but it only roars in defiance. Miara dives in, the creature now weakened by the sacred flames, sluggishly slashes its sword at her, but the dunmer ducks under the blow and drives her blade upwards, severing its arm. Marcus quickly charges in too, one blow from his ebony sword clashing against its shield was enough to stagger it, while driving his family's blade through the creature's chest.

It didn't die, rather it roared in defiance. Miara then took the chance to decapitate the Revenant, silencing it forever. A blast of holy golden and blue flames erupted from the shining jewel on Dawnbreaker's hilt.

The radius of the blast expanded at least ten meters, every undead on its path was engulfed in bright flames. Their unholy bodies could not resist the sheer radiance of Dawnbreaker's sacred power, and soon crumbled to dust.

Shock and awe was present in everyone, particularly those who found themselves on a tight spot when battling the undead, only to suddenly see their adversaries immolate with colorful flames and turn to ashes. The knights and their companions shielded their faces, expecting the worst, but to their astonishment they were all safe.

Ever since the fight began, the undead horde had gone down to less than half of its original size. The blast only adding to their losses massively. A single knight had yet to fall.

"We're winning" A knight cried in joyous disbelief. "We're actually winning!"

Sereda slams her shield into an undead before her blade severed its head; "Celebrate once the horde is completely gone duster!"

The dwarf's words went mostly unheard, but it did not hinder the knights' performance one bit. They fought with high spirits, their resolve currently unbreakable. Their shining weapons blessed with holy light were a beacon, torches they carried through the darkness of this cursed night to deliver them to victory. Every undead remaining soon fell to their light.

Unfortunately, not all was well on all the fronts of the battle. A scout from the militia ran up to them, distress clear on his face. "The undead are rising from the other side of the lake! Quickly we need help!"

Ser Perth looked at Marcus. "You and your friends go, we have this!" He spoke with determination. "Go!"

Marcus nodded and quickly waved at the others with his blade. "To the village, with me quickly!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

With Bran and Loke running beside them, the young wardens and their comrades arrive seeing some militia fighting the corpses as they rise from the cold waters. Faren only shakes his head; "Ruining perfectly good lake water."

Not minding the dwarf's words, Leliana lets loose an arrow into a corpse before it could slay one of the militia men. "We need to stop them before they can overwhelm us."

"Marcus!" They see Bann Teagan, donning bronze colored plating over a chainmail, standing in the middle of the militia waving a hand at them. "Good to see you yet live! Also, Lady Astrid" He shakes the shining blade on his hand. "Mind explaining what this is?"

'Astrid' laughs heartily. "The aid I promised you!"

The Bann brings down his blade, slicing through an undead briefly gives a charming smile; "You will have to let me repay me some day my lady!"

"I just might let you," 'Astrid' smiles before turning serious and jumping into the fray with the others.

Lightning builds from Neria's staff before letting loose the force of nature unto several undead. Gin and Faren strike in unison bring down several undead at once. "Skeleton behind you!" The amber eyed elf shouts. Faren quickly turns to and indeed sees a skeleton, nothing but bare bones, not even armor or clothing, coming towards him.

The dwarven rogue throws one of his daggers at it. The pommel hits its head instead of the blade... and the whole corpse falls to pieces like puppet whose strings were cut.

"Damn..." Faren says, not really impressed. "Skeletons are really terrible"

"Be glad you never fought Draugr, I take skeletons any day," 'Astrid' comments punching through a skeleton's rib cage. It shatters as all the pieces fall to the ground.

Two flesh covered corpses screech before Sten's sword severs their heads. "The Qun does not tolerate these monsters" The giant bronze skinned warrior states.

A fireball slams into a walking corpse fully intending to strike the Qunari from behind. Looking over to sees Morrigan looking at him blankly. He only gives a small nod which she returns as they keep fighting.

Alistair strikes down an undead before slamming his shield into another. It unleashes a blast of light which utterly destroys it. "Well... This is not so bad."

"Hah!" Miara barks a laugh as corpse incinerates before her in holy light. "You've started to take a liking to fighting. That is good!"

As the walking dead dwindle down, Marcus can't help but feel relief feeling a long fight coming to an end.

Broom.

Everyone stiffens at the loud rumbling noise, the ground itself shaking.

Brooom.

It was getting louder, the ground shook even harder than before. The militia men gathered in a circle and held their blessed weapons in shaky hands, everyone looks for the source of the noise.

It became so loud it no longer sounded distant. They saw something moving in between the houses near the lake, a large figured emerged. An undead, but one completely different from all others. It was at least the same height as a house; its back was a deformed lump of decomposing flesh and bones sticking out at odd angles. It didn't have a single face, rather a myriad of rotten faces, some more skeletal than others. Its torso looked like a corset made of bones and its limbs were an agglomeration of body parts, arms, hands, legs and feet.

"To whoever thought this was over" Miara growled while branding Dawnbreaker once more. "Go jump off a cliff"

With the last of the foes defeated, Serana and Shale look down by the windmill. Even the golem's glowing eyes widen as the vampire princess cups her mouth at the monstrous corpse. "Oh no…" She quickly makes a run for the village.

Marcus and Miara stand side by side, weapons ready; "What do you think?" the young Cousland whispers.

"I think that's an undead colossus" The dunmer in disguise whispers back. "Necromantic constructs made out various corpses. I'll have to admit, this is the first time I've seen one so... fleshy"

"Any advice?"

"They can be as strong as giants. Be mindful of what they do as some possess magic, though I doubt this one-"

The Flesh Colossus raised its arms, dark spheres of magic gathered in its palms, dark arcs of lighting shot from them over the fallen corpses and those that became piles of ash. Green miasma gathered around them like mist, taking the shape of furious wraiths.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" She curses. "The blessed swords and magic are the only things that can damage to the wraiths! Leliana focus on that colossus!" 'Astrid' yells out authority.

The wraiths increased in number, some rose from the fallen undead, others phased through the walls of the houses, floating over the ground while letting out haunting howls. Their visage was skeletal with strips of skin barely hanging on to their faces and bones, their bodies were incorporeal enough that they could see through them, while mantles of green miasma covered them like shrouds.

"I'd complain about how much weird my life got" Faren says while twirling his daggers on his hands. "But I'm far too drunk for that"

With booming steps the colossus roars, its inhuman wale sounds like a thousand lost souls howling in the night. The sound alone makes several men freeze in terror.

Miara could see the crippling fear on their face, the sight of the abomination summoning the specters embodied all their fears, all the pain of what they lost to the undead. There was no courage to be found in themselves, the blessed weapons in their hands provided no comfort, no hope.

Miara realized there was only one thing she could do. "I need to cast a spell!" She announces while positioning herself closer to the militia. "It won't take me long but I need some time, you need to buy me that time!"

The Cousland nodded. "Understood!" He beckons Alistair and Sten to follow him. "With me, we need to take down that thing!" They nod and follow Marcus in his charge.

Neria and Morrigan stare at the mass of wraiths slowly coming towards them. "We need to keep them at bay" The tan skinned elf says, twirling the shining staff in her hands and gathering power.

The swamp witch smirked. "Allow me" Time to see if her studies in Conjuration had proven worthwhile. She summoned magic in right hand, forming a dark sphere of light. Morrigan felt her will enter the outer realms, her magic grabbing a hold of another being, it resisted but only momentarily, as her own will proved superior and called the being forth. A large sphere of arcane energy came into existence before her, revealing a large flaming being of feminine shape which hovered over the ground doing elaborate moves as if dancing in the air, leaving a trail of fire on her wake.

While Morrigan smirked proudly at her successful summoning, Neria on the other hand did NOT share her enthusiasm. "D-D-Did you just summon a demon?! What is wrong with you?!"

The swamp witch only scoffs as her Flame Atronach unleashes it's fireballs on the colossus; "This daedra is giving us time we surely need circle mage. Unlike you girl I do not fear the unknown." Morrigan summons her own flames aiding her Atronach.

Her aim steady, the former lay sister lets loose an arrow into the giant corpse. The arrow explodes in a blast of holy light, searing its decomposed flesh but the creature doesn't even stagger. Leliana was forced to shift her aim to the wraiths approaching the militia. Thankfully the shining arrows proved far more effective against the spectres, banishing them in amidst the burst of light.

The Atronach circled around the behemoth, firing a constant stream of flames while avoiding its heavy attacks. Morrigan fired up multiple bolts of fire while Neria called down lightning upon the creature. The elven mage tried to paralyze it with a glyph but it proved too strong for her magic to hold it in place. so all they could do was keep it busy as Marcus and the others circled around it, their blessed blades cutting into flesh and bone, holy flames erupting on their paths but otherwise doing little to hold the monster back as it continued trashing its arms in a brute manner in order to hit them.

Miara's hands slowly waved through the air, tracing arcane symbols with her fingers as magic gathered. Call to Arms was a master level spell that required time to cast it, but the results would be worth it, as it'd give militia the bolster their morale needed. She joined her hands, forming a sphere of teal colored magic. She didn't cast this spell back at Ostagar for it would cause unnecessary distraction, but the soldiers here were already tired and afraid, they needed something to give them valor.

She lets out a roar before slamming her hand to the ground as a wave an ethereal light engulfs the militia men. Fear fades from their eyes, as they feel a rush of strength none have ever felt before. Gripping their weapons they charge without fear against the monstrous beast.

In that moment, they felt invincible, there was no shadow of doubt in their minds, and no flicker of fear as Call to Arms had erased all and any from their minds. In that moment they weren't a militia of desperate peasants seeking to survive, they were warriors eager to plunge into the depth of battle.

And so their blessed weapons strike true at the wraiths, their edge was able to cut into the specters as those were no ordinary blades but arms that carried sacred light. Swords and axes tore their ghostly matter apart like a curtain's fabric, maces crushed them to pieces, and arrows pierced right through them, leaving holes with burning flames of blue and golden.

The undead colossus roars before all its jaws snap shut. Miara only looks wide eyed as she witnessed their golem comrade Shale leap from the windmill, cupping its hand together as ice formed, slamming hard onto the beast's skulls.

Most of the heads shatter with great force, leaving only a gory trail on the ground as the body collapses. But its twitching and attempts to get up showed it was still very much animated.

Shale had not fared very well with the fall, as now the golem was lying on the ground having tripped and fallen over after successfully hitting the colossus. The golem shakes off dirt and ruble from its head as it slowly stands up.

"Didn't you know you could leap so far" Miara says, standing next to the golem.

"Only if I have good elevation. Landing leaves much to be desired unfortunately"

Ice reforms on Shale's fists as Marcus roars out; "Now while it's down! Hit it with everything!" The Cousland and the others give out a battle cry charging the beast while Morrigan's flame atronach hits accurately on the giant monster while not hitting the others.

Leliana unleashes arrow after arrow, each exploding with holy fire, each burst bringing the beast down as it tried to get up. Neria called on fire to erupt from the ground, seeking to reduce the entire monstrosity to cinder.

As soon as their warriors were about to get close, a band of bats settled right next to Miara, taking Serana's shape. The vampire waved her arms as magic gathered around them in the force of electricity, the lunged her right arm forward, a sphere of pure power having formed on her palm, and shot a mighty thunderbolt.

The blinding arc of lightning collided against the creature, already under heavy attack by various magical energies, it combusted with exceeding power, creating a large explosion which send the warriors to the ground, throwing Alistair and Marcus a few feet away.

There was nothing but a smoldering whole where the colossus used to be, nothing but small charred parts of rotted flesh and bones.

Miara quickly looks around and sees the last of the wraiths being cut down by the militia. The men and woman of Redcliffe being cheering in victory. She sighs, putting away her blades and giving her friend a wry smile. "Bit of an overkill don't you think?"

"Like you're one to talk"

The Cousland groans as he sits up. "Yes, for the record" He removes his ebony helmet and lets out a tired breath. "Give us a heads up when you're about to do something like that next time"

Despite Marcus's words, Bann Teagan caught his breath before smiling lifting his sword; "VICTORY!"

The militia soon joins in along with Sereda and Faren. Holding his wounded side, Murdock could only chuckle as relief floods his being. He groans as leans his back to a wall sliding down. "Think I've had enough of these goddamn adventures for a lifetime." He blinks soon feeling a warmth coating his side.

Turning he sees Neria, kneeling at his side, healing him; "Save your energy for the others girl. They need it more than me."

Miara could see the knights coming down from the hill, not a single one among them was missing. Surveying the village, she could see no corpse of any fallen militia warrior. Not a single one of them had died; truly this was a glorious victory for them all.

The dunmer in disguise noticed the shining of their weapons dimmed until vanishing, Meridia's blessing ending as the battle was finished.

She stood still as she felt a powerful presence enter her mind. 'They better remember' She heard the voice of the Prince of Light, noticing she was the only one who was reacting to the voice, which meant Meridia was only talking to her. 'To whom they own this victory'

"To the spirit of life and light who blessed your weapons this night, Lady Meridia," 'Astrid' yells out.

The people cheer at her words, not really comprehending full meaning behind them. As Miara saw Teagan laughing and hugging his compatriots, she realized she need to fully come clear to him about Meridia, as there may come the day for Meridia to ask something in return. Weather he'd believe her or not, that was another matter.

But for now, she let them celebrate. They had earned it.

XxX ~ next morning ~ XxX

The windmill creeks as the morning sun shines bright over a Redcliff. After what felt like an eternity, every single person in the village could now take a much needed sigh of relief and a full night's sleep in their own homes.

Currently, Bann Teagan, the Redcliffe knights, Marcus and their companions stood at the threshold of the bridge to Redcliffe castle. "With the undead gone we now can finally reach my brother and perhaps stop whatever madness that caused this."

"You believe whatever is responsible for this" Gin says with doubt on his voice. "Is in the castle?"

"It has to be" The bann replies. "The castle's entrance has been sealed shut ever since this all nightmare started, that cannot be a coincidence"

Serana gazed upon the castle, it seemed so far and peaceful, like it hadn't suffered from the horrors the people of Redcliffe had to endure. She closed her eyes and let her senses reach out to the structure close to the lake, like the echoes of a bat it pulsed back to her, letting her feel something dark and powerful dwelling inside.

"I can feel a dark presence in the castle" She states with grim. "I believe your fears are founded bann Teagan"

The Bann nods steely; "Then we march, we see this nightmare over once and..."

"TEAGAN!"

The sudden shout drove their attention towards its source. They saw a woman with brown hair and a desperate expression on her face, she was well dressed, which indicated wealth and status, her accent was like Leliana's, meaning she wasn't from Ferelden. Accompanying her was a soldier wearing plate and mail; they were both coming from the castle's direction.

Marcus, Alistair and Teagan recognized her immediately. "Isolde!" Teagan cried in relief as hugged the woman. "Thank the Maker you're alright. I feared the worst" He then laid many questions on her. "What is happening inside? Are my brother and Connor alright?"

"Oh Teagan" She buried her face on her hands in desperation. "It's horrible. A demon has taken over the castle"

"What... Are you certain lady Isolde?" the Arlessa looks sharply to one who spoke but her eyes widen seeing a stone face Cousland.

"Marcus..." She tries to compose herself and nods. "Yes. I snuck out of the castle but I must return." Her almond eyes look with absolute desperation. "You must come with me Teagan... Alone"

'Astrid' narrows her cold sapphire eyes. "Well..." Serana whispers to her. "That's not suspicious at all"

"Alone?" Marcus questions. "My lady doesn't sound wise"

Alistair nodded. "I agree" The senior Warden says. "If there is a demon you can't be alone without protection"

The arlessa gives the blonde Warden a look of pure apathy and disgust. "Alistair..."

"Oh good" He sighs dejectedly. "You remember me"

"Why are 'you' here..? You should be a Templar by now," Isolde's voice holds nothing but cold spite.

Miara was not really sure if it was this woman's tone to the lad, but seeing Alistair only look away uncomfortable spurs her maternal instincts. "Alistair is a Grey Warden. And he is here because he wants to be... So save your ill tone girl."

"Girl?!" The arlessa cried with indignation. "Who do you think you're talking to?! Teagan" She rounds to the bann. "Who are these people?"

"So you've got stuck up nobles up here too?" Faren asked, scratching his stubble. "Greeeeeate" He 'umphed' when Sereda nudged him rather harshly on the ribs. Her glare clearly telling him to shut up and not make things worse.

"These people" Teagan says with patience. "Are our friends. They saved us from the undead that have been terrorizing our village. We owe them our lives"

Isolde only glares back to 'Astrid' who returns it; "Then you have my thanks," by the level of frigidness in her voice, the hidden dark elf wondered if this woman even cares about the villagers below.

She turns to her brother-in-law once more. "But now you need to come to the castle with me. Please" She begged.

Gin shakes his head. "Do we still need to point out how foolish that sounds?"

The swamp witch hmph'ed. "My sentiments exactly"

"Connor needs you! A blood mage poisoned my husband and summoned a demon, please!" 'Astrid' and Marcus could already see Teagan's mind made up upon hearing news of his nephew being in danger and his brother poisoned.

"Alright..." Immediately 'Astrid' grabs Teagan's arm as both she and Marcus step away from the others.

"Are you mad Teagan?" the Cousland hisses quietly. "You could be walking to your death!"

"This is my family Marcus. I must go" the Bann hisses back.

'Astrid' rubs her temples; "This could be suicide Teagan. And you expect us to just do nothing while you go into that place?"

The bann ponders for a moment. "No" He finally answers, slightly taking both aback. "I don't know what I'm getting myself into, but I know I'll need your help. Though Isolde seems intent that doesn't happen" The Warden and the dunmer in disguise rolled their eyes. "Listen well, there is a secret trapdoor inside the windmill, it opens to a tunnel which leads straight to the castle's dungeon"

"Very well," 'Astrid' grumbles. "But you better be alive when we get to you."

At that, Teagan could not help but smile; "To have such beautiful lady concerned for me. Luck must be on my side this day." Marcus only snorts. "I'll go with Isolde, you take the secret entrance. Be careful."

A short moment after Teagan had left with Isolde, the Wardens and their companions entered the tunnel through the trapdoor inside the windmill. The passage was damp and dark, but the mages of the group illuminated the tunnels so they could see where they were going.

All through the trek, Neria's velvet eyes couldn't stop glaring at the swamp witch. "I can't believe you summoned a demon" The tan skinned elf muttered.

"I know" Morrigan laughed with glee. "To be able to command such creatures without foolishly entering in a deal with one like so many idiotic mages do" She laughed again. "Such magnificent magic"

The Circle mage glowered. "It's not something to be proud of" She points to the foreigners with her staff. "You two did this; you taught her that horrible magic"

"Yep" Serana quipped.

"Guilty" Miara added.

"Do you realize the catastrophe it could create if that knowledge spreads?"

"Oh yes, we've pondered long and hard" The vampire said disinterestedly. "And we decided we don't care"

"It's not our fault you're Chantry and Circles guide themselves through dumb superstitions" Miara said.

The young elf mage huffs as Gin holds her shoulders; "Let it be. Tamriel is not Thedas, and from what we seen from our kin here, they know what they're doing." His old friend only glares at him. "Don't look at me like that"

"Aren't you the least bit concerned about that magic?" She asks incredulously.

The city elf shakes his head. "Honestly, it freaks the crap out of me. But as long as they don't do any of that magic with me I'm okay with it. You tend not to worry about magic in the alienage where there are more important things to worry about"

"More important things?" Neria questions.

"Neria, most people have never seen a mage, let alone a demon. Trust me when I tell you they can be very superstitious about magic, but those aren't priorities in people's heads"

The young elven mage takes in the words from her old friend. Marcus reaches the hidden door. He puts a finger to his mouth looking back to everyone. They nod as he opens the door quietly.

Eyeing their new surroundings, they see a dark cold place made of stone; there are a number of cells guarded by iron bars. "The dungeon" Alistair whispers. "Perfect place for a secret door."

"Why do dungeons always have secret doors?" Miara muses to no one in particular.

The group pays no mind to her words as they keep moving. They stop the moment they hear a meek voice speak. "Is-Is someone there?"

A voice Neria recognized all too well. Her eyes widen and her heart starts beating faster. "It can't be" She runs towards the cell from where the voice came from. She gasps, hands going to her mouth as she stares in shock at the person inside. "Jowan?"

His robes are torn, she could see lash marks in the open seems of the robe. But Neria was focused on his, which had a look of absolute shock at seeing his old friend; "...N... Neria?" Groaning, the blood mage stands; "What in the Maker's name are you doing here?"

The young elf says nothing, her face blank as she just motions with a finger for Jowan to the cell door. Seeing no expression on his friend made his nerves stand on end. Coming to the cell door, he has no time to gasp as Neria grabs his robe, slamming his face into the iron bars.

"OW! Hey what was that bloody for?!"

"For being an idiot," Neria snaps angrily. "For lying to me, manipulating me, and then running away leaving me to deal with the consequences of your actions" Her voice was filled with rage, but there was also a deep sadness in it. "You were my friend, I risked everything for you and..." Her words died in a chocked sigh. She glares at him and demands answers. "Why are you here?"

Jowan takes notice of the people behind his former friend several people standing behind her. "I... I was brought here to secretly tutor Connor in the ways of magic..."

Both Marcus and Alistair stand a bit straighter; "Connor is a mage?"

"Yes" The mage nods. "The arlessa was secretly looking for apostates to train Connor so they wouldn't take him to the Circle. Teryrn Loghain apparently caught wind of it and arranged for the arlessa to hire me" He leans against the bars, letting out a sigh full of remorse. "And he... ordered me to poison Arl Eamon"

"What?" It wasn't just Neria who had exclaimed in shock. "Why would you do that? Why would you trust Loghain?!" She ask, hands going to her hair.

"It-it's teryrn Loghain" He says, like that answered everything. "The Hero of River Dane, he told me Eamon was a threat to Ferelden, why wouldn't I trust him?"

Marcus rubs his eyes. "Apparently, you haven't heard about what happened at Ostagar"

"What do you mean?" Jowan asks.

"Loghain left the king to die, and is telling everyone that we, the Wardens, did it" The elven mage explains.

The apostate can't stop his eyes from widening and his jaw dropping. "You're a Warden now?" He slowly shakes his head. "I... I'm sorry. Had I had any idea of what Loghain would do-?"

"Knowing the consequences of your actions hasn't stopped you before" Neria snaps at him. "Turning to Blood Magic and then endangering mine, Brianna's and Lily's lives with your ploys are prove of that"

The group can only stare at the two mages. "Ahem" Alistair clears his throat. "Excuse me, but did you just say he's a Blood Mage?"

Jowan only looks at the bunch nervously; "I... dabbled..."

"So you literally cut you own palm for magic;" 'Astrid' could not stop herself. The hidden elf only shakes her head at that.

"Really?" Serana was not impressed. "You need to go through all that hassle just for a bit more of power? I mean I understand it if you're doing sacrifices. But do you really need it to access stronger magics?"

"In Tamriel we don't even need to cut anything to convert lifeforce into magic" Miara adds. "I'm trying to give people the benefit of the doubt here, but so far I'm getting really disappointed with some of Thedas's magic schools"

Neria glares at them. "This is a serious matter!"

"I agree" The vampire nods before giving Jowan a look over. "You don't look like much to me, but I bet I could teach you more about dark magic than anyone on this continent"

Save 'Astrid', everyone just turns to the vampire princess who only smiles; "Next to my mother I am the second strongest necromancer in Skyrim."

"... Uh yeah," Sereda mutters looking to Marcus; "You really have weird friends."

Sten only mutters quietly in his native language. Only Morrigan looked curious; "The magic of the dead. Hmm."

Neria, in an uncharacteristic burst of anger, jabs her finger at Morrigan. "Don't you dare think about it!" The witch only glares while crossing her arms. "And you" Then directs her glare to Jowan. "There is a demon in the castle, what do you know about it?"

Jowan looks hesitant but he answers all the same. "Connor... Connor is possessed"

"What?!" Alistair shouts in surprise. He grabs a hold of the bars. "Possessed?!" Maker please doesn't let it be true.

"Y-Yes..." The blood mage meekly nods. "I-It was after I poisoned the arl. The arlessa found out, she threw me in the dungeon and had me tortured. But Connor... Connor must have made a deal with a demon to save his father"

"This is bad" Neria says with dread. "If Connor is possessed then..." She swallowed. "Then we have no choice but to kill the child"

Alistair rounded on her. "No!" He exclaimed, a dark frown adorning his otherwise easy going visage. "We can't, there must be another way!"

"Were you not a Templar you fool?" Morrigan reprimands him. "You know when a demon possesses a mage, the person he or she used to be is, for all intents and purposes, dead"

"T-There is the possibility" Jowan interjected. "That the demon hasn't fully merged with Connor, and is only exercising its will over his mind"

"Yes..." Neria taps her chin in thought. "Yes that could give the possibility of saving Connor" Alistair sighs with relief.

"We must move quickly then" Marcus said. "Come on" He beckoned for the others to follow him.

Neria's eyes widened as the others began to move. Her eyes darting between Jowan and the group. "Wait!" She called, and they stopped. "What about Jowan?"

"What about him?" The Cousland asked. "Bann Teagan or the arlessa, perhaps Eamon if we are successful, will decide his fate later"

Jowan let his head hang low, mournfully accepting his fate. Perhaps he deserved it, after all the things he's-

"No!" Neria shouted, causing him, and the others, to look at her in surprise. "They'll kill him!"

Marcus shook his head and walked up to her until they were face to face. "Neria, he poisoned the arl" He nearly hissed the words. "That is not something he can just walk away from"

"T-Then... we set him free!" She decided with determination. Jowan stared at her in shock

"Are you insane?" Alistair interjects. "Letting a blood mage go? No, out of the question" He said with a tone of finality.

"Then we conscript him. Make him a Warden"

Marcus couldn't believe what he was hearing, and neither could the others. Gin took a step forward. "Harboring a blood mage in our group, one that tried to assassinate Arl Eamon even?" He shook his head at the foolishness of the prospect. "That will only hinder us in our quest against the Blight"

"Please Marcus" She begged in desperation. "You can't let him stay here"

The Cousland shook his head. "Neria, you just told us he lied and used you for his own ends, and then left you to pay in his stead. Why would you do that for him?"

The elven mage said nothing, her gaze shifted from the Cousland to the mage in the cell. He looked so tired, wounded and so wallowed in self-hatred, like he truly regretted what he had done... despite it all, this was still the same Jowan who became her friend when she first arrived at the Circle.

"He is my friend" Was her only response.

The reactions were varied. Morrigan slapped her forehead while Gin sighed. Jowan could only stare at his friend and feel even more regret for what he had done.

"If we make him a Warden, you can sure we'll pay for this later" Marcus, while understanding of what she was feeling, had to remain logical.

"We could at least make him useful" To their surprise it was Serana who had spoken. "He has already dabbled in dark arts, it would benefit the group to have another mage versed in dark magicks"

Marcus thought it over, Miara's and Serana's brand of dark magic, despite his feelings on the matter, was very useful and had aided them greatly on their quest. Morrigan was quickly showing to become very proficient at it, which only added to their efforts. Even if Jowan's presence among the group was bound to bring them trouble with the Redcliffe nobility, at least as a Gray Warden under their protection he'd be able to get away with it a bit. And if he became a conjurer like the Miara and Serana, they'd be adding more talent to their group. At least he trusted those two for that type of magic not to get out of control.

"Hmm" He hums in thought. "Could be useful"

"No" Neria replied with anger. "Absolutely not. Delving into dark arts got him into this situation in the first place, and I'll be damned if I let him go down that road again"

"Teach a blood mage dark magic" Alistair added sarcastically. "Sure, what's the harm in that?"

"Then we leave him here" Serana said, her tone cold and uncaring. "If he is going to bring us problem, then might as well be sure he is worth it. But if he is not" She shrugged. "Your choice"

Neria's mind swirled with mixed emotions and thoughts. Her strongly held ideals conflicting with her feelings and desires for her friend to be safe. But how could she ever let Jowan fall deeper into the abyss? Damned if she did something, damned if she didn't. Gazing at her friend one more time, she realized she'd at least have him at her side, close to her, where she could at least make sure he wouldn't lose his way.

"Fine..." She sighed. Betraying her own ideals, letting Jowan dabble more into dark arts, felt like phantom pain she couldn't ease.

"Well... Since you're joining us Jowan," 'Astrid' comments pulling off her hood. She dispels her illusion, revealing her dark elf form. "My name is Miara Ellswyn. But among other people call me Astrid. That was an illusion you just saw"

"SWEET MAKER! A GREY BLOODY ELF!"

"Hehehe" Miara couldn't help but laugh. "Ain't had someone here react to me like that. Have to admit that was funny"

Placing her hand on the latch, the group sees ice coating over the metal from Miara's hand; "Gonna get you out in just… a... second" She grunts as she pulls the frozen bar, which soon shatter in icy bits. "There you go.

"T-Thank you" Jowan says from the bottom of his heart. "I promise you won't regret it" Some of the group wasn't so sure of that claim.

Miara handed him a stamina potion. "I doubt you've been eating properly, this should help a bit" She casts a healing spell on him to close any wounds that haven't properly healed.

Once more nodding in thanks, Jowan brings the flask to his lips and drinks. And immediately regrets it's if his chocking on the substance and spitting it out was any indication.

"Disgusting isn't it?" The dunmer says in amusement.

Jowan nods while groaning; "It's bitter but it does the trick." The dark elf smirks before pulling up her hood and mask; "Shall we go?"

Going up the stairs, the group made to the upper levels of the castles. The mages could feel dark magic and unrestful spirits swirling all around the place. To make sure they were not taken by surprised, both Miara and Serana casted Detect Life and Detect Dead to see the lifeforce of people and other living beings through the walls, or in the undead's cases, the dark arcane power that animated their bodies.

Miara noted something at the far end of the hallway. "There seems to be a living person hiding in that room"

Gin looks to Marcus; "I'll go check," the Cousland nods as the city elf adjusts his crossbow with a new bolt.

Carefully walking up to the door at the end of the hall way, he takes aim, ready to fire if needed, and kicks it open. He heard a woman scream, and sees a head full of blonde hear cower behind a crate. "Please, no!"

"It's okay" Gin said comfortingly. "You're safe"

The woman slowly looks at him and cries in relief. "Oh thank the Maker, you're a person" She slowly stands up.

"Are you hurt?" The city elf looks her over for any sign of wounds.

"N-No, I'm fine. Thank you" The poor thing looked deeply scarred by whatever events must have taken place inside these walls.

Gin then remembered something important. "Is your name Velana?"

"Y-Yes" She meekly nods. "How did you know?"

"Your father Owen is worried sick for you" He gently says. "He waits for you in Redcliffe"

"I can't leave" The nearly wails. "The castle is filled with those monsters!"

Gin motions to the hallway and the stairs from where they came from. "At the dungeon there is a secret passage, it'll lead you safely towards the village"

The woman cried tears of joy and relief. "Thank you, thank you so much" Without another word; she quickly darted towards the dungeon and to safety.

Gin could not help but faintly smirk; "Promise kept Owen." A shriek catches his ears as he runs back to his friends. Darting into the chapel with crossbow ready, he fires a bolt into a walking corpse's head.

He can't help but snarl. "Argh..! I thought we were done with these things already!"

Faren throws a flask of what the elf could only assume was highly flammable at a chimney, he was proven correct when fire erupted violently as soon as the flask cracked open, engulfing several undead and a pair of Shade demons in flames. "I'm just used to this sort of stuff by now"

Miara twirls her ebony katanas in her hands before decapitating a large corpse. "That's a healthy attitude, it'll keep you alive"

A stone fist smashes in an undead while Sten slices two in one swing of his blade. Jowan and Neria send lightning and fire onto several corpses. Grabbing a screeching undead by its head, Serana throws the vile thing into the wall; it literally explodes into a gory mess while leaving a mild crater in the wall.

Slicing an undead in half, Marcus looks to everyone; "That the last of them?"

"I highly doubt it," Miara comments. "Until we stop the source, more horrors will show up."

The group continued onwards towards the main hall, quickly killing any other monster that appeared on their path. The closer the more they could feel an otherworldly presence making itself be felt as an icy feeling of dread washed over their spines. The mages in particular felt the presence of powerful demon lurking closely.

They soon reached the main hall, a wide area, mostly devoid of furniture, with a large chimney at the back. In front of it was a row of soldiers, their faces completely blank like they were incapable of feeling any kind of emotion. Before them was a young brown haired child... but he felt anything but, as they could practically feel an unholy aura emanating from him. His eyes held an evil gleam to them, and a haughty smirk which displayed amusement at the sight of Bann Teagan dancing and doing acrobatics like a common jester.

It was then that he noticed the intruder. "Who are these fools and why do they interrupt my fun?" His voice was all wrong, unnatural.

The dwarven princess could only stare in a mix of horror and confusion. "Uhhh... I'm no expert but are human children supposed to have voices like that?"

Slowly walking over, Marcus could only look at the boy he remembered once being a timid thing. "Connor, it's me... Marcus Cousland."

Young Connor tilts his head; "The boy is not here, Marcus Cousland..." It was unnerving hearing such a deep demonic voice coming from a child's mouth. "Why are you here?" He looks to his mother who only looks torn between fear and maternal concern for her son. "Did you bring them mother?"

She shakes her head, frightened. "N-No Connor of course not"

"You could have told us about this" Serana said accusingly.

"If I had then you would have..." Isolde couldn't even finish as the very idea was too painful for her.

"Hmm, now that you are here" The demon wondered with amusement. "What shall I do for you? Perhaps I'll cut your insides and feed them to the dogs like I did with all those foolish servants"

Jowan's eyes go wide as Miara, maintaining her disguise of 'Astrid' walks in front of young Connor; "You struck a deal with this child, what was it?"

"It was a fair deal," the demon says calmly. "Father was dying, now, he is not. And I will now rule in his stead and bring Thedas under my heel."

The vampire can't help but roll her eyes and sigh in exasperation. "These megalomaniacs wanting to take over everything are starting to get on my nerves. So cliché..."

"For that" The demon warns her, its voice more menacing than before. "You'll get to watch as I torture them all"

"Connor no..!" His mother begs him with desperation. "Don't do this!"

Her words seem to have been able to stir something within the voice, as his eyes close and brings a hand to his head, looking tired and disorientated. The horrible aura of terror he had previously oozed seemed to have banished, leaving only a normal and frightened boy. "Uh, mother" His had gone back to normal, losing its demonic echo. "W-What happened?"

"Connor..!" She immediately kneels before him and takes his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"The demon hasn't merged with him" Neria explained, looking greatly relieved. "We can still save him yet"

Quickly before the demon could take over again, 'Astrid' places her hand on the boy's forehead. Connor and Isolde both look at the woman in confusion as she whispers in old arcane language. In a small flash a small glowing seal appears on the boy's forehead sending the boy into sleep. "That should hold the demon till we get rid of it." Hearing groans, she turns seeing the guards and Bann Teagan awaking from their trance. "As well as free them…"

Slowly rubbing the back his neck stiffly, Teagan soon blinks seeing everyone before him; "When did you get in here?"

"No time for that" Miara gently sets the boy to the floor, Isolde holds his hand tightly. "We need to figure out a way to banish the demon" She steps back to better observe the boy. "I've seen ghosts and other types of spectres take possession of a person's mind, but this outside my expertise" She turns to the Thedosian mages. "What do we do in this situation?"

Neria is quick to answer. "As the demon hasn't merged with him, we can go into the Fade where it lies and destroy it" Her hands fidget around her staff. "But to do that we need to prepare a ritual which requires more lyrium than we have"

"Why do you need a ritual?" Serana asks. "I thought your Thedosian mages went into the Fade just by falling sleep and dreaming"

"Usually, that would be the case" Morrigan is the one to answer. "But the demon here is powerful, as proven by all the undead and other lesser demons it was able to call forth, no doubt it's keeping its area of the Fade warded from undesired influence. As such, falling asleep in this place would only send us to another area of the Fade which doesn't exist parallel to the castle"

The dunmer in disguise sighs and rans a hand through her fake blonde hair, "What are our options then?"

Jowan rubbed his hands nervously. "I may have a solution"

It was then that Isolde noticed his presence. "You..!" She glowered. "This is your entire fault, guards!"

Neria and Marcus stood before the blood mage as the soldiers took out their weapons. "Stand down!" Teagan ordered, and they obeyed.

"Teagan, he poisoned Eamon, he is the reason Connor is... is going through this!"

"And we will deal with it later" The bann barked. "But right now if he is helping our friends here then at least hope is planning to help" He sends the mage an inquisitive and angry look.

"Of-Of course..!" He stammers. "There is way to gather enough power to send someone to the Fade, through Blood Magic" At those words, most of the people grimaced and were already denying the idea. "It'd involve a living sacrifice, but thankfully there are enough people here that we can gather a bit of lifeforce energy from all so nobody has to die"

Isolde looked conflicted, but one look at her slumbering son set her mind. "Then do it"

"Hold on a minute" Alistair took a step forward. "I want to save Connor, but we are NOT using Blood Magic" He said vehemently. Serana and Miara wanted to smack his head for being so foolish.

"I want to save the kid too" Gin added. "But I can't say I want anyone using my blood for anything"

Serana notices her longtime friend taking a deep breath; "Or I could just send you to the Fade without the use of lyrium" Everyone looks to her; "I can feel enough of this 'Fade' in this castle to create a ritual that would send your consciousness there"

"My lady... You would need immense amount of magic to pull something off like that without lyrium," Jowan says worriedly.

"Which is why I need to drops this to focus myself better" In a blink her illusion faded revealing her dunmer face. "Teagan, my real is Miara Ellswyn. Before the mess at Ostagar, did you hear word of a foreign elf living with the Cousland family?"

The people from Redcliffe were, to say the least, shocked at the sight a grey skinned and red eyed elf. "Um... a bit" Teagan manages to say, albeit slowly. "Rumors have been... mixed ever since Howe took control of Highever"

"I'll tell you everything later, for now we must help Connor"

Neria cleared her throat. "You say you can send us into the Fade?"

"I'm positive I can send one of you with there with a runic circle of conjuration with the purpose of summoning and opening small gateways to the outer realms. I'd usually need a sigil stone for that, but we won't need it this time as I'll just be sending your consciousness to the Fade"

"You can do that?" Neria and Jowan ask in unison.

"Yes, can someone fetch me some chalk," Miara looks to the dumbfounded guards. Both nod before running off. The dark elf looks to the Bann; "I apologize for deceiving you Teagan, but given my general status and being a foreign citizen of Tamriel-"

"Loghain could say Tamriel is involved," Teagan quickly deducing the possible grim scenario. "It is fine madam general, you helping my nephew is enough."

The dark elf blinks for a moment; "Madam General... First I've been called that, I like it."

Serana snorts. "As if your ego needs more stroking"

The guards soon return with enough chalk and hand it to her. "I'll need you three to help" She hands a few pieces to Morrigan, Neria and Jowan. "To do this I'll first need you three to inscribe the runes you usually use for a ritual involving the Fade, I'll add a second layer after you're done"

The three proceed to do as they are told. Miara and Serana notice the sigils in the circle, as they aligned and began to attune themselves with magic, let out a type of arcane energy very similar to those used in conjuration rituals and spells. When they were done, Miara and Serana carefully began inscribing a second layer around the circle, they needed to be precise so they the runes wouldn't clash against each other and ruin the ritual. It was a bit difficult at first, while the sigils the Thedosians worked with functioned in a similar fashion as those of Tamriel; they were still dealing with magic writing different to those they were used to.

Fortunately, their patience and efforts bore results as the second layer inscribed in the Oblivion language managed meld and alter with the first circle.

"We still need to power it" Neria commented.

Serana let energy ran from her hands over the runes, chanting in a strange arcane tongue to the observers. Miara let out a soft breath, her Voice carrying intense and raw arcane power; she guided it through the runes. Before their eyes, the circle crackled with energy and the sigils light up.

"It's ready" Miara said before turning to the other mages. "If Serana and I keep powering up the circle, we can send two of you at the same time"

"That would require a very large amount of arcane energy" Jowan said, perplexed.

"Don't worry honey, between Serana and I, we have a ton of magic"

Neria and Morrigan kneeled inside the circle, facing each other. "Wish us luck" The elven mage said. They closed their eyes and let out a breath as they concentrated, letting the magic of the circle do its work. Their consciousness slowly being drifted towards the realm of dreams and nightmares.

Jowan only looks at her longtime elven friend; "She would go that far just to save me?"

"Because sometimes some people won't let betrayal stop them from still caring." Miara speaks up looking to the young man. "But understand just how far she is going for you. You might feel like you don't deserve such a friend, but a person like her is one in a century, and exactly what you need."

"I..." His words are laced with shame. "You're right on one part. I don't deserve such a thing..."

"Then prove yourself you are worthy" The dunmer spoke with conviction. "Do your best to become more than you are"

Slowly the young mage nods; "I will..."

Teagan walks over beside Miara; "How are you and Serana feeling?"

The vampire princess snorts; "We hardly feel a thing Teagan, like Miara said. She and I, along with my mother are the most powerful mages in Skyrim."

"You should add Sarya up there, my daughter worked hard to get where she is, and honestly she is a way better mage than I am," the dark elf smiles with pride.

"I must admit I am still getting used to this whole ordeal" The bann says. "Think I've had enough of those for a lifetime after all that's happened"

"I see..." Miara said delicately. "What if had more things to tell you that you need to know regarding the spirit we... you made a deal with?"

The young Bann weakly smiles; "I'll sit down with you and talk once my nephew is safe."

Miara nods as she looks back to the rune circle. Around ten minutes had passed ever since Neria and Morrigan had entered the Fade, everyone waited anxiously for their return. Fearing for what might become of them and Connor. Yet they waited knowing there was not much else they could do but to have faith in them.

Nearing forty-five minutes, everyone sighs in relief seeing Neria and Morrigan opening their eyes. Allowing both Miara and Serana stop feeding magic into the circle. The dark elf soon walks over to Connor; she kneels over as Isolde watches holding her breath.

Placing a finger on the boy's head, she whispers making the glowing circle vanish. The Arlessa broke down in happy tears as her son slowly stirred and opened his eyes. "Mother..." Isolde could only cry hugging her son tightly in her arms.

Relief and joy is quickly replaced by anger and a deep desire for vengeance at what she perceived to be the cause to all of the misfortunes they had been force to endure. She turns to the blood mage with a raised hand she orders. "Guards, detain him!"

Before the guards could move, Marcus takes a step forward and says in a strong authoritive voice. "Jowan has been conscripted into the Gray Wardens" His tone demanded for anyone to try and challenge him. "He stays with us"

The Arlessa was about to shout but Teagan raised his hand; "He is out of our reach now Isolde." the Bann looks to Marcus. "Jowan is your problem now."

"Thank you"

"Make no mistake, I want nothing more than to kill him" The Bann's voice made Jowan cower and try to hide behind Sten. "For he poisoned my brother, which started this whole thing... But I owe you and yours too much" He gives the blood mage a look filled with apathy. "Just make sure he never sets foot here ever again"

Marcus nods as he turns to Neria; "Mind taking him to Bodahn?" The young elf nods as she and Jowan leave the castle.

Young Connor only sits up looking to everyone in the main room; "What is going on?" His eyes soon widen at the grey skinned elven woman who looks at him warmly. "Um... Who are you ma'am?"

"My name is Miara darling" She softly ruffles his hair. "And I think you need to rest for a bit"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Isolde had soon taken Connor to his room, where he had quickly fallen asleep and she made sure not to leave his side. It had been a long terrible ordeal for the poor boy, but at last it was over, Redcliffe and the boy were safe.

Yet one great problem remained.

"Eamon is not waking up" Teagan stated grimly.

Serana shook her head and sighed. "We've tried everything, nearly every spell that could help and nothing, the arl remains slumbering" She tapped her chin in thought. "The pact Connor made with the demon did indeed save his life, but the poison... it is almost like now it's part of his body, it is not killing him anymore, but it is keeping unconscious, robbing him of any strength for his mind to wake up"

Marcus only grunts as he lightly paces. Alistair only looks at the Arl with a mournful expression. "Isn't there anything to be done?"

Teagan freezes for a moment before shaking his head; "It could be a wild goose chase, but the only thing that could possibly wake my brother is the Urn of Sacred Ashes."

At that Serana lifts a brow; "Urn of Sacred Ashes?"

"We've heard from one of your knights in Lothering that you're looking for an artifact of that name" Miara comments. "Something about an urn containing the ashes of your saint?"

"Indeed" The bann nods. "Legends hold that the ashes of Andraste herself have the power to cure anything. Isolde had sent many of our knights on the quest to find them but so far they've had little success" He rubs his chin and ponders. "Forgive me for asking more of you but I think that you may have a greater chance of success"

"We DO need Eamon's aid if we want to confront Loghain" Marcus mused before looking at the bann in the eye. "What do you need us to do?"

"I heard of scholar, an expert in andrastian lore who lives in Denerim, Brother Genitivi. He may have the information we need to find the urn"

The Cousland's eyes light up in recognition of that name. "I've read some of his writings, it holds some great work. If there is someone who can point us in the right direction, it must be him" He paused for a second. "Though I'm afraid Denerim will not be our destination yet, we must first recruit the aid of other forces to help battle the Blight"

"We can go to the Circle tower and then to Denerim" Alistair says. "The Brecilian Forest where the dalish clans are is close to the city anyway"

Teagan nods; "I understand; if you need rest you are welcome to sleep here. Except Jowan of course, I don't want to cause a scandal with Isolde"

Marcus nods in understanding; "We'll rest up for the night then head out." He looks to Miara; "Sounds alright?"

"I'm good with that." Serana also nods in agreement. They could all use a rest.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Stepping outside the castle, Miara sighs, it felt refreshing not having to hide herself, at least until leaving Redcliffe. Keeping an illusion for such a long time could get tedious, even with her large amounts of magic. The groups had spread about the castle and village in resting up. Stretching her limbs, her crimson eyes take notice of Alistair standing near the stables.

His hand touches one of the wooden beans with nostalgia and a bit of sadness. He took in the sight of the empty stalls, feed racks and haystacks before looking to the upper floor where there was small buddle of hay along with barrels and crates.

He sighs. It had been so long since he had been here...

Miara silently walks up to him; he seemed to have noticed her presence as he spoke. "This is the stable I grew up, before I was taken to the Chantry. Lady Isolde didn't want me inside the castle"

She forced back a growl at the mention of that woman. "What was her problem with you?"

"She thought I was Eamon's son, no one ever told her the truth about my father" His eyes wander over the castle. "He met her here, my mother I mean..." There was sadness in his eyes, a longing for something he never knew. "I grew up resenting everyone for my heritage, for what it made me endure. Keeping me here, practically telling me I was never meant to have anything of value, and that my life wasn't my own to decide... I ended up being angry at my parents. Just a dumb little boy who wanted to blame someone to feel better... I even broke the only thing I had left from my mother"

A hand on cheek gently turns his head to the dunmer; "But I can tell you did not let your anger rule you. You matured passed it."

"... More like I just got of sick of holding in all the hate and anger. It never got me anything save losing my mother's pendant. I was such a stupid brat."

"Hey." Miara looks at the young sternly; "I will not hear you degrade yourself further. You are a kind and morally strong young man. You were even considered a good enough warrior for Duncan to recruit you" She waves a finger at him. "So I don't want to hear how you are not suited for something, or compare yourself to other people. You hear me?"

Alistair remained silent, but he nodded.

"Honestly Alistair, some of the things we've done, you've helped accomplish. And you have accomplished much by yourself. So why is it so difficult for you to see that?"

He snorts, but not ill-manneredly. "Easy for you to say. You're a general in your home, and with that voice of yours I can't think of anything you wouldn't be able to do"

The dunmer looked at him intently for a moment, her crimson eyes shifting to stare at nothing in particular. She slowly nods to herself. "Did you know I grew up in the streets without parents?"

His eyes widen in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah" She replies neutrally. "Just another orphan in the streets of Bruma. I was lucky enough I showed talent as a smith and craftswoman that a blacksmith took an interest in my skills and made me his apprentice" Alistair remained silent. "I didn't even know I was Dragonborn until many years later. When fate had taken me to Skyrim, I found myself enrolled in quest after quest that weren't really of my choosing. Eventually, I battled my first dragon with a lot of help, when it died I absorbed his soul and then everything started to change"

"For the better right?"

She brings her hands, slowly rubbing them together. "Mostly yes, but that came much later. There was a... phase of my life after I found out about my powers, one I am not particularly proud of"

"A phase?" He asks in confusion.

"I let myself become drunk with the powers I discovered I possessed. I was... there's no sugar cutting it, I was an asshole, a major one" Alistair had a hard time imagining her as she describes. Sure she did things that didn't go well with his morals, but the woman before him had proven herself capable of doing just as much good. "But as I traveled I grew up, and I started discovering more things about myself. Alistair" She sets her hands on his shoulders. "My journey made me who I am, what gave me the chances and tools to achieve greatness. Yours is barely beginning my boy; give it time, for I am certain you will achieve great things"

A smile slowly appears on the young warden's face; "You know; it's actually nice hearing that for a change."

"When you start telling yourself that, you'll see how far that confidence will take you"