Malaya stood in the labs, eyeing the old mage, "Are you certain this will work?"

"My dear Commander, do you not understand what I have told you? Being that close to the archdemon when it died changed you," Avernus reached out and trailed a finger along the line of her chin, "If we do not do this, who knows what will become of you. What will become of your taint."

He smirked, watching the thoughts flit behind her eyes. Oh yes, she was ripe for the picking, his commander. Just another, careful nudge and she would let him do whatever he wished. His voice dropped, all but hissing as he moved closer to her, gently brushing as a smudge of dirt on her sleeve, "You feel the anger, don't you? It's always there, waiting to slip out when you least expect it, isn't it? It makes you want to do such things, Malaya, such terrible things."

She nodded, unable to speak. How could he know? She had tried desperately to keep it under control. The incident with Oghren replayed in her head and she turned away from Avernus, her face in her hands.

"Yes," she whispered hoarsely, "It's there, Avenrus. I can feel it trying to make me do things, horrible things," Maly shuddered as she parroted his words back to him, "I almost struck down the queen the last time I saw her."

Avernus laughed, startling Maly into turning to face him, "I would not call that a particularly bad thing, Commander, given the fact that the queen is a conniving wench."

"What happened to me, Avernus?"

"When Alistair killed the archdemon, their souls essentially cancelled each other out, or so we are taught," Avernus led Maly to a chair and helped her sit. He studied her briefly before going to his worktable, "But, my dear, what if that isn't what happened? What if part of the archdemon entered you as the only other Warden there? You did not die to destroy its Taint. You lived and so it does as well, within you."

Maly paled and wavered in her chair, "I have the archdemon in me," she gasped the words out as though each were painful to speak.

"Well, it could be worse," Avernus barely glanced up from his notes, "You could be pregnant."

"You joke, now," Maly stood up, cheeks darkening with rage. She glared at the old mage, "How dare you joke about that? About this?"

"Enough hysterics, Commander," Avernus' voice bit through the haze of her anger, "Either sit back down and calm yourself or leave here and never return. I will not help a child throwing a tantrum."

"I could not believe the way he spoke to me," Maly gave a wry chuckle as she shrugged, "Of course, reading his journal, I begin to understand a bit. I was to be a project of his," she glanced down at her hands, gnarled with age, "Apparently, a very successful one."

"What did he do, Maly," Jaxon could not help but press her.

Maly looked away, "He experimented on me, changing the way the Taint reacted to my body," she shivered at the memory and drew the blankets closer around herself, "The things he did, that I saw," her voice dropped, "There is good reason that blood magic is outlawed. I could hear him in my mind as he changed me, as he convinced the archdemon to mold to his wishes," Maly's voice cracked as she admitted her worst sin, "to my wishes."

She refused to look at Jaxon, "It whispers in my head still, the archdemon. It reminds me every day of what I lost. It mocks me even though it cannot act through me anymore."

Jxon studied her with fascination and distaste. She carried a piece of the archdemon within her and had controlled it with blood magic? No wonder she had been so reticent to tell him. This went against everything that he believed in. He pulled away and she let out a quiet noise, almost a sob.

"So," she whispered, "You now know my terrible secret. I am an abomination of the highest order."

"But why, Maly, why did you let him," Jaxon's lips curled with disgust, "do such things to you?"

"It was the only way to stop the archdemon from taking control of me," she leaned back against the pillows and let her eyes fall shut, "The only way to make it help me instead of hurt me."

"You do not know what Fereldan was like after the Blight. The Grey Wardens were weak and desperately needed to be strengthened on their own two feet, without intervention from abroad. The Circle was in tatters, young mages were left, alone in the world, at the mercy of ignorant people. I had to get the Wardens back into a place of power before Anora could destroy them. I had to help the Tower rebuild before a lone child destroyed all the good Wynne and I had done," her voice weakened and she shrugged, though the movement was so tiny he almost missed it, "I had to find a way to fight the evil within me before I destroyed everything, including myself."

The old mage bowed her head, her silvered hair masking the pain in her face, "What will you do with this knowledge, Jaxon," she asked, unwilling to see the horror and disgust in his eyes, "Will you tell Rylan, finally let him in on my secrets? Report me to the Chantry so that they can kill me without thought or ceremony?"

Jaxon stood, his mind still reeling, "I don't know, Maly, I don't know. I thought you would be able to help me, but this, this is…"

"I know. This is pure evil," she raised her head and finally met his shocked eyes, a sad smile on her lips, "I am pure evil."