"No!" Leliana insisted, putting herself between the others and front doors of Haven's chantry, "No, I will not allow for this!"

"Leliana…" Endrin said, her patience wearing thin. After the fight down in the hill in the main part of the village, she was a bit on edge, as was everyone else. "What is wrong with you?!"

"It's a chantry!" Leliana said, raising her voice. "This is a place of worship, and peace, and sanctuary. We cannot go, kicking in the doors and demanding answers under pain of death! If we do that, then we are better than… than heathens!"

Endrin's temper was rising, and Leliana's implication that she was heathen did not help. Up till that point, Leliana and Endrin had been friends, despite their drastically different religions, and the fact that the Andrastians had destroyed the Dales, driven the Dalish into exile, and hunted them whenever possible, killing or kidnapping their Keepers and the few blessed children who possessed magic. Through clenched teeth, Endrin said, "I doubt very much that your shemlen chantry would condone the murder of the knights, demonic reavers, and blood sacrifices."

"You don't know that everyone is involved in that! It could have only been the one reaver!"

"You blind, shem?" Kylae said. "Why you think no one's found the Urn yet? Why you think Genitivi's disappeared? Why you think all those Redcliffe knights vanished? I'll tell ya why… it's 'cause these shems are killing anyone who so much as mentions the Urn. Now jus' shut-up with your religious clap-trap, and let's get this over with."

"Religious clap-trap?" Leliana repeated, and began to move towards Kylae. Kylae rested her hands on the hilts of her daggers, but then Sten appeared between them, holding them apart.

"Parshara! Silence, both of you!" Sten growled "Bard, it's not your decision, nor is it yours Elven Warden!" He shoved them both backwards, and both women stumbled backwards a few steps. "My Kadan has led us this far, we follow her lead! If she says we go into the chantry, then we go into the chantry!... Is that understood?" Neither Kylae nor Leliana said anything, but they both lowered their eyes. Sten continued, "Our quest to unite the land is drawing to a close… we have come too far to fall apart now!" He glanced at Endrin and nodded for her to take the lead once again.

Endrin returned Sten's nod, and the relief she felt showed in her eyes. Endrin said, "Now that I've had a chance to think about it, running into the chantry might not be the best idea, and if there are any more reavers in there, then it would probably be a good opportunity to get killed… I just hope they didn't hear any of us arguing already." She looked around at her followers, her green eyes coming to a stop on the two 'trouble makers' of the group. "Roaran, Kylae… it's time to put some of your more questionable skills to good use." Endrin smiled mischievously. "Go around to the back of the chantry and see if you can find an open window or some other, more subtle way inside, whatever you do, don't be seen. Just look around and see if you can find anything."

Roaran and Kylae grinned at each other and began moving around the chantry, which was particularly large for such a small, remote town. It didn't take them long to locate a window that lead into one of the chantry's back rooms. Kylae was barely able to look in through the bottom of a window and saw that the room appeared to be empty Kylae looked back at Roaran and said, "Aw'right, this looks like a good place to get inside, come 'ere and let me stand on your shoulders, it's kinda high for me."

Roaran snorted, "Ahh, sod-it Elf-Lady, if it's a might high for you, then whaddaya think it is for me? Let me stand on your shoulders and then I'll give you a hand once I'm inside."

Kylae grumbled but after a few seconds deliberation she sat with back against the wall and allowed Roaran to climb over her. "Holy…!" Kylae grunted, "How much do you weigh?!"

Roaran only chuckled as he hauled himself up and then dropped from view with a very loud grunt and a thud, but instead of then leaning out of the window to help her up, she heard Roaran attempt to keep his voice quiet as he said, "What in sod-all do you mean, who am I? Who in sod-all are you?"

"Roaran?" Kylae called as loud as she dared, "What is it? Who's in there?"

"Yeah, yeah, gimme a minute Elf-Lady." Roaran called back. "I'm trying to figure that part out myself." There was another brief conversation that Kylae really couldn't hear, then Roaran stuck his head out the window. "Hey, Elf-Lady, what was the name of that guy we were trying to find?"

"Genitivi?" Kylae asked.

"Yeah, that was it… There's a guy on the floor in here, says he's Genitivi. I'm gonna pass him out the window, try and grab him… and be careful, he says his leg's broken."

"Roaran how am I supposed to catch a full grown shem?"

"Figure it out." Roaran replied as he disappeared back into the room again. What followed was a series of loud grunting noises from Roaran, and someone that Kylae assumed what Genitivi making a lot of pained squeaks and groans, then Roaran hissed, "Stand up… sodding stand up!"

"My leg is broken!" A voice complained weakly.

"And if you don't stop whining about it and stand up, then you're other leg is gonna be broken too!" There was more strained grunting noises from Roaran. "Alright…" Roaran gasped, and it sounded like he was standing near the window, "Out ya go, ya whiny old bastard!" There was a final grunt and heaving noise from Roaran, then then a human man came tumbling out the window.

Kylae really didn't put much effort into catching him beyond grabbing his arm as he came down, and Genitivi crashed pretty hard into the ground. Kylae did clap a hand over his mouth has he started to scream out in pain. She really couldn't help a smirk at seeing a shem in so much pain, while she remained healthy and strong. "Shut-up!" Kylae hissed. "I'm guessing the village people wouldn't be very happy if they found you'd escaped, and there's no way I could carry you out fast enough… So I'd just leave you here." Genitivi's muted screams quickly were silenced as he saw how serious Kylae was.

Roaran appeared again in the chantry window. "Incoming!" He muttered and jumped over both Kylae and Genitivi, landing hard on his feet. He quickly straightened up and gripped the haft of his battleaxe with one hand in anticipation of any of the villagers hearing them escape and coming after him, but it seemed that they had managed to escape unnoticed. "Alright," he said quietly, "Let's get him back to Endrin and the others." Roaran grabbed one of Genitivi's arms and draped it over a shoulder, which was somewhat awkward since Roaran's shoulder was at Genitivi's waist level.

"So," Kylae asked as she grabbed his other arm, grinning widely. "What did you steal while you were inside?"

Roaran shrugged and said still spoke quietly as he said, "Just some maps I saw laying around, I thought they might be useful to us since we'll probably be in the area for a while."

Kylae's grin widened. "What else did you steal?"

"A jeweled amulet." Roaran said proudly. "It was just laying on one of the shelves, just begging for me to pocket it!"

Kylae laughed.

Once the Wardens had Genitivi, they pulled back several miles for the village of Haven to avoid the storm of anger that was bound to follow when the villagers discovered that their prisoner was gone, and a good number of their fellow people and warriors had been slaughtered. Wynne had done her best to heal Genitivi's broken leg, although there was little she could do other than to dull the pain. His leg had been broken several months ago, and had mostly healed in the wrong position, so he would never be able to walk properly again, and would have to walk with crutch for the rest of his life. Morrigan had suggested taking off the entire leg, only Tylis had known her to be joking, and had been forced to cover his mouth and fake a cough to conceal his short burst of laughter.

"So the Ashes?" Endrin asked, "They are close?"

"Very close." Genitivi answered as Wynne finished tying off the makeshift splint around his broken leg. "At the top of this mountain is a temple that the Disciples of Andraste build in her honor, and as her final worldly resting place."

"And you're sure the Ashes are still there?" Endrin pressed, "We've come a long way… and it will be… upsetting if we get there only to find the Ashes are gone."

Genitivi nodded. "I truly cannot say, my dear lady, but all my research points to this place. If the Ashes are not here, then they truly are lost."

"Did you make it all the way to the temple?"

"Yes." Genitivi said, grinning and nodded excitedly. "I made it all the way to the front door. I knew that the villagers were after me, but I thought that if I could just lay eyes on the blessed Urn… well… that never happened. And I'm sure they would have killed me soon enough if you had not come along." His eyes drifted to Kylae and Roaran. Both elf and dwarf nodded in return but remained silent.

Tylis fidgeted and asked, "Why are they protecting the temple from everyone? From what we've seen so far, they seem like some kind of religious zealot. Shouldn't it be available for everyone to see?"

"You would think so…" Genitivi answered, "But as you said, these people are zealots of some kind. I cannot understand their logic any better than you… Or how they would justify so much murder."

"Murder!" Leliana's head suddenly shot up, her eyes wide and her face reflecting the shock that she felt.

"Yes… On more than one occasion, their leader and Revered Father, Eirik, would come and tell me almost joyfully that either a solitary knight, or a group of them had been ambushed and killed while they tried to reach the Urn." The older man frowned, "He seemed to happy and so righteous about it."

Eebon growled, and when he spoke he had to struggle to keep his voice calm. "They believe in something wholeheartedly then… I don't know what it is, but it isn't the Maker and Andraste." He looked Leliana out of corner of his eyes as he said, "There's nothing you can do to help people like that."

Leliana lowered her head and remained silent. Genitivi said, "Sadly, I believe that is so."

Endrin spoke again, "So, could you lead us back to this temple?"

"I could." Genitivi answered, "But it would do little good. There is key required to open the doors… and Eirik wears it as an medallion around his neck."

Endrin's face sank. She did not enjoy the thought of a full-on assault on the village, and she wasn't even sure the group could handle that. They already knew that the villagers had mages, but she didn't know if they had more reavers, and if they had more than just one or two then it would be near impossible battle. Eebon was the best swordsman she had ever seen, even better than Alistair, and Eebon had barely been able to defeat just one reaver. Endrin said, "And you're sure that the amulet is the only way to open the door? Couldn't magic do the same thing?"

"It's possible I suppose, but I doubt it. Remember that Andraste fought against an Empire controlled by mages. Her followers probably would have found a way to shield her tomb from magic, if for no other reason than just to protect it from vengeful Tevinters."

Endrin nodded. "Then we need that medallion… Dharr, do you have any ideas?"

Everyone's head shot up suddenly, and no one was more surprised than Dharr. Endrin and Dharr had not spoken since Orzammar, when Dharr answered for his actions at the Anvil of the Void, and ever since then he had been avoiding his leader, whether intentionally or unintentionally no one knew. "I…" Dharr said, then stopped. "I could think up a plan… But I'll need a few minutes."

Endrin nodded. "Then start thinking." She said, "We need to get that medallion and get out of here fast. It's only a matter of time until they look for us out this far."

"Or use blood magic to track us…" Tylis muttered unhappily.

"We should make camp here," Endrin said, choosing to ignore Tylis' comment, "But don't anyone get comfortable, keep your armor on and don't unpack anything unless you have to, we might need to make a hasty escape at any time. No fire this time either, it's back to cold rations." The last order was met with a chorus of complaints and groans.

Eebon stood from his seat on a rotted tree stump and drew Yusaris, casually resting the massive blade against his shoulder. "I'm taking watch." He announced. "Kardol, care to join me?" The Legionnaire nodded wordlessly and marched off beside Eebon, they didn't go far, and stayed within sight of the others. Eebon settled himself on a rock with his back resting against a moss covered tree, Yusaris across his lap and one hand resting on the hilt. Kardol kept his black targe on his left arm, and his axe tucked into his belt, he set his black helmet on a rock at his side and stood with his back against a tree as well. The Warden and Legionnaire maintained their vigil in complete silence.

Endrin watched the berserker and Legionnaire for a few moments, the she smiled and chuckled to herself as she silently thought, 'Interesting conversations those two must have.'

It took less than five minutes for Dharr to complete his plan, and when he approached his leader, he spoke in a quiet, more subdued voice than was normal for him. "Endrin, I believe I have formed a reasonable plan." He said. "Well… actually it's more of an idea than a plan."

"Alright." Endrin nodded, "Let's hear it."

"At this point we all want to avoid a full-on battle, but we also need the medallion to proceed, so the solution is simple. We sent just one person in. My best suggestion would be either Kylae or Roaran, or perhaps even both, into the village under cover of darkness, and when things have calmed a bit. I believe either one of them could infiltrate this, Eirik's home, deal with him, and swipe the medallion before anyone realizes they were there."

Endrin had to stop for moment. The idea was so blatantly obvious, that she was almost embarrassed that she had not thought of it first. Perhaps the reason was because everything they had done so far had been as a group, so the idea of one person acting their own did not occur to her, but that thought also brought other concerns with it. "What about if something happens? Whoever goes would be trapped in the village, and almost certainly discovered and killed, and then we would never get the medallion."

"Would our chances really be any better if we all went as a group?" Dharr asked. "And after the battle we previously fought in their village, I don't think they'd be expecting just one person. It would give us a certain advantage."

Endrin thought about the logic for moment before saying, "I'll bring up the idea to Kylae and Roaran, but I will not send anyone in alone against their will."

Dharr nodded, he had expected as much. Like Eebon, Endrin seemed to believe that a single loss was excessive. It was a noble sentiment, but also completely unrealistic attitude for a commander to have.

Endrin and Dharr couldn't help but to watch Kylae with a certain measure of fascination. At hearing their request to enter the village, assassinate Eirik, and steal the medallion, Kylae had readily accepted. She had then took off her boots and armor and started to coat herself in dirt and mud. Kylae scooped up a double handful of mud, and sighed sadly, then closed her eyes and began rubbing it on her face and even back into her dark hair. Once she was complete covered in mud, she sat down and rinsed off her hands and feet, then pulled her boots back on.

"I've seen some pretty strange preparations for battle in my time…" Dharr said, "Although covering yourself in mud is new to me.

Endrin nodded, "What is the mud for?"

"Camouflage." Kylae said bluntly. "One of the lessons my mother gave me. 'If ya don't want people to notice ya, then don't look like a person'. No one in their right mind… except maybe a five year old would cover themself in mud, if anyone sees me like this, might jus' take them a couple seconds to actually realize what they're looking at, or they might overlook me completely. And an'ways, couple seconds is all I need to make an escape… An' in case you're wonderin' I don't cover my boots in mud so that I won't be trackin' mud nowhere if I have to go inside."

Endrin and Dharr glanced at each other in surprise. Dharr said, "That's… actually brilliant."

"Yeah." Kylae nodded and stood up. "I'm ready now."

"You're not going to take your armor?" Endrin asked as she watched Kylae buckle on her belt and tie her dagger sheaths to it.

Kylae shook her muddy head. "No. If I'm discovered, I'm gonna to have the whole village coming down on top of me, an' no armor is gonna protect me from that, jus' make a lotta noise and slow me down." Kylae started heading off in the direction of the Haven, only to notice Endrin was following her. "What?" Kylae asked, "Where do ya think you're going?"

"I'm just going with you to edge of the woods." Endrin answered, and then I'll keep watch as best I can from there."

The two elves lay uncomfortably under a bush at the edge of the village, watching the people go back and forth, and getting a feel for the routines of the guards that had been posted. Night eventually began to fall, and most of villagers began to make for their own homes. Kylae didn't miss Eirik from Genitivi's description as he strolled into his own house, which was of course the largest house in the village. Kylae glanced at Endrin, who still lay next to her and nodded, then started to crawl out from under her cover, just as Kylae was halfway out from under the bush, she stopped and glanced back and Endrin.

"Endrin…" She said quietly. "If something happens to me… if I don't make it back from this… jus' 'member that you promised you'd look after my folks. You can do that for me right?"

"Don't talk like that." Endrin whispered back, "Not now… you're not going—"

"Endrin." Kylae interrupted. "Just for my peace of mind. They're the ones I'm fighting for, and they're the reason I'm still with you. Now promise!"

Endrin nodded. "Yes, I renew my promise to look after your family if something happens to you. But nothing is going to happen to you."

"I know." Kylae grinned, then continued to crawl towards the village.

Had it been Denerim, or Highever, or Redcliffe, or any regular city with elves mixed in with the humans, then Kylae could have forgone the muddy camouflage, and just walked to her destination in the guise of a servant or a vagrant looking for a handout of coin or a job offer. But she hadn't seen a single elf in Haven, and as isolated as the town was, they would probably find strange to see a new face out and walking about, so she had no choice but to resort to stealth. Not that it was hard, but it was nerve racking as every time she heard a muffled voice in the middle distance, or someone called out, she was afraid she'd been spotted. Kylae stayed in the deep shadows, and stayed on her belly, only one time did she have to come up to her knees, and then only to quickly roll out of the way to avoid a passing guard. Another time, Kylae was sure that she was about to be discovered, and had remained perfectly still, the man had nearly stepped on her back, and had passed so close that Kylae could hear the crunch of grass under his feet, but then he had only walked on.

Even though it had been a relatively short distance to Eirik's house, it had taken Kylae nearly an hour before she reached it, and then it took about another hour before she was sure that she could enter without being seen by anyone on the outside. However, all the windows were closed and barred, making the door the only way in or out, and Kylae had no idea what awaited her on the other side of the door. Taking a deep breath, Kylae looked back where she knew Endrin was waiting and nodded, then she drew a single dagger and cracked the door open just enough to look inside. The first room looked empty, and Kylae slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside, closing the door behind her just as slowly and carefully.

Kylae clenched her dagger harder. There were far fewer hiding places inside, even more so as she didn't know the layout of the house. If someone appeared, then her only hope would be to kill them before they managed to raise an alarm. Kylae grinned. 'Now this is exhilarating!' She wondered if this was what her mother had felt when she was on an assassination mission. The constant threat of death hanging over your head, but at the same time the prize of victory only a few steps away, and under the same roof! The danger only increased the anticipation. Kylae might have been trained as a fighter and assassin since she was a little girl, and there had been several times in her childhood that she had struck out for an 'adventure' on her own, but this was her first true solo mission, and also her first true assassination mission. Kylae grinned again, and cocked her head to one side to better listen to the various sounds inside the house.

For a few moments she heard nothing and began to think that Eirik might have gone to bed already, or had gone out a back door, but then she saw the fireplace had had fresh wood just added to it, and there were far too many lamps and candles illuminating the house for him to have gone to sleep. And then she heard one of the floorboards on the second floor above her creak. 'Perfect,' Kylae thought, 'That means that he's on the second floor, and has no way to escape except to go through me!' Kylae spun her dagger around the outside of her palm, catching it again as it came back, it was something of a nervous habit for her. She began to make her way up the stairs, moving slowly, and being extra careful not to scrape against a wall and leave a muddy smear.

Kylae stopped just as she reached the last stair and listened again, she stood motionless for over a minute before she heard a tired sounding sigh off to her right, but still she did not move for several more moments in case he was on the move. Finally, Kylae began to inch her way forwards again, crouching as low as she could manage and still move without putting a hand on the floor, her left hand clutched the dagger, he right hand ready to snap out and grab whoever might appear in front of her.

She found Eirik in the last room, seated at his desk with his back towards her, hunched over a large book on top of the desk. Kylae readied herself, this was far from her first kill, but it was her first real assassination. She slowly began to inch her way forward, already planning in her mind how she was going to kill him. One of the fastest and most effective ways would be to drive her dagger into the base of his skull, severing the spine, and killing instantly, and probably painlessly… probably! But as Kylae took her last step towards him, she suddenly had another thought, something more subtle.

Kylae took another step forward then lashed out with her free arm and wrapped it around the front of his face and holding his head against her side and pulling it backwards. A final gasp of total surprise was the only noise that Eirik made as Kylae suddenly jerked his head back, forcing his neck up at the same time, his neck snapped audibly, and he instantly stopped struggling and went limp. 'That was easy enough!' Kylae thought as she reached into his shirt and withdrew the medallion, which was quite large, but not having anywhere else to put it, Kylae put it around her own neck, dropping the medallion down her shirt. Next she looked back down at Eirik's corpse, and quickly positioned his body so that anyone who looked in would think that he had merely fallen asleep at his desk. Then she turned to leave… and saw the girl standing in the doorway looking from her to Eirik with confused eyes.

Without even thinking, Kylae flicked her left hand out, and the dagger that she still carried flew the short distance between the two of them, striking the girl directly in the heart. Kylae's eyes suddenly widened, and her jaw dropped, letting out a gasp as she saw what she'd just done. This girl was just that, a girl, and a young girl at that. Kylae thought she looked to be maybe twelve or thirteen years old.

The expression of confusion on the girl's face never changed, now she looked from Kylae and Eirik to the white dagger that was suddenly protruding from her heart. Feeling suddenly weak, the girl started to fall, but Kylae appeared next to her, holding her small body and gently lowering her to floor.

"No!" Kylae said as she looked into the girl's eyes and saw that they were already beginning to cloud over in death. "No, don't die! Please, don't die! I'm sorry, Andraste as my witness I am so, so, sorry!"

The girl didn't answer, and the confused look on her face quickly gave way to a never-ending blank stare, and her head rolled to one side in death.

Kylae felt her body sag. Of all things she'd been taught by her mother, and Eebon, and Dharr, and various other tutors she'd known ever the years, nothing had prepared her to deal with what she had just done. Kylae didn't know how long she knelt over the dead girl before finally closing the girls eyes, and pulling the dagger from her small chest. Then Kylae was gone, silent as a shadow.

Endrin sat in the middle branches of sycamore tree, silently counting down the minutes since Kylae had went inside Eirik's house, and trying not to become overeager for her lethallan to appear again. When Kylae did come out of the house again, Endrin noticed how Kylae seemed to have more or less tossed caution to the wind as she made her way back, she wasn't paying much attention to where any of the villagers were, or if they were even looking at her or not. Endrin quickly descended the tree and waited the last few moments for Kylae to arrive.

Kylae withdrew the medallion, and wordlessly handed it to Endrin then almost started to run back the way they had first came, back towards the camp.

"Kylae," Endrin asked, as she stowed the medallion in a pouch and jogged to catch up. "What's wrong."

"Nothing." Kylae quickly said, "Nothing's wrong… We got the medallion, now it's time to go back… come-on Endrin, let's move!"

"Did something happen back-"

"No!" Kylae snapped, "Now shut-up, and let's go!" Kylae was strangely silent after that, the only sound she made aside from labored breathing as they ran was to swear loudly when her foot caught in mess of vines. When they made it back to the camp however, Kylae instantly went to her pack and pulled out a clean set of clothes. "Where's the stream?" She asked, wanting to get the now mostly dried and cached mud off of her. When no one answered, Kylae yelled, "Where's the damn stream?!"

Dharr answered, "We don't know, no one's gone looking for one yet."

Kylae moved away from the camp and into the darkness, cursing and swearing under her breath the entire time.

The group looked after the disappearing elf, then around at each other, then all eyes turned to Endrin. Roaran said, "What in sod-all happened to her out there? She was all happy when she left… now she… I've only seen her like that one time before." Roaran didn't need to go into further detail, with the exception of Kardol and Genitivi, they all remembered the night the secrets of the Grey Wardens had been revealed and Kylae had lost herself in her anger.

"I don't know." Endrin replied. "She was in good enough spirits when she made her way into the village, but when she came back, something had changed. All she did was hand me the medallion and say that the mission was done, and then insist that we head back to camp."

Roaran grunted and then set off after his friend. It took him a few minutes, and he tripped over roots and rocks protruding from the ground, but eventually he found Kylae, and that she had indeed located a stream. Kylae yanked off her shirt and plunged it into a shallow pool of water, then plunged it in and out several times almost viciously before pulling it back out and wringing it as dry as she could manage with only her hands. Then she took a deep breath before plunging her entire head underwater, and running her hands back and forth through her hair and across her face. Once she was satisfied with the amount of dirt she had managed to dislodge, she stood and prepared to further undress.

"Before you do any of that, I guess you should know that I'm standing back here." Roaran said.

Kylae stopped and looked over her shoulder to glare at Roaran. "Whaddaya sodding think you're doin' here?!" She demanded angrily as she grabbed her clean shirt and pulled it down over her body. "Jus' leave me alone!"

"I…" Roaran started, he wasn't use to being the target of Kylae's wrath. "I… just wanted to make sure that you're alright."

"Yeah… I'm fine!" Kylae snapped, "Jus' fine!"

"Oh okay…" Roaran grunted sarcastically, "In that case I'll just be heading back to… Hey wait a sodding minute! No you're not fine!" Roaran said. "Anyone could see that. Kylae… what happened out there tonight?"

"None of your sodding business!" Kylae snapped. "An' who do ya think you are now? My father? Leave me alone!"

"No, I'm not your father." Roaran said. "I'm your friend… I just want to help." Roaran thought to himself, 'Oh this is just sodding great! What am I supposed to say now? I'm not Wynne, or Lordship, or Leliana… what in sod-all am I supposed to say now?'

"My friend…" Kylae repeated, she sounded much less angry now. "Yes… you certainly are that. Just… back off until you can't see me anymore and gimme and chance to finish washing, 'kay?"

Roaran complied and backed off. He silently counted off the minutes until Kylae reappeared, dressed her clean clothes, and holding the wet mud-stained ones under an arm. "Kylae," Roaran said, "What happened out there? You left all happy and whatnot, and then you came back… well… not happy."

Kylae sighed and dropped her wet clothes, then dropped herself onto a rock facing her dwarven friend. "I killed someone." She said, and bit her lower lip to keep it from quivering. "I killed a kid." Then she began to relay what had happened, starting at the time she had left the camp with Endrin.

"Oi, Eebon." Roaran said.

Eebon glared up at Roaran. He'd purposely sat well away from the camp and the others, and happily only Dune had come near him, until now that is.

"What?" Eebon growled in irritation. He'd never been particularly keen on Roaran, aside from when they were in the thick of battle when Roaran and his battleaxe had been a welcome sight. Dune sensed his master's irritation and growled as well.

"Oh great…" Roaran said sarcastically, "Now I've been growled at by two people and one mangy mutt… and all within an hour… That's gotta be a record!"

Dune growled again, louder this time. Eebon laid a hand gently on Dune's neck, and the dog calmed. "If you like the way your face and throat are arranged at the moment, I wouldn't advise calling Dune a mangy mutt again." Eebon patted his faithful companion. "Now what do you want?"

"It's not me." Roaran said, "It's Kylae."

Eebon went rigid. "What's wrong? What does she want?" He couldn't help but feel concerned for his former lover, and more than a little curious.

"She's hurting." Roaran said, "And she'd kill me if she ever found out I told you anything… but… something happened to her while she was out on her mission… and… I really don't know what to say to make her feel any better. But… I… you know her better than any of us, I mean the two of you were—"

"Hey!" Eebon growled again, and Dune lifted his furry head, lips curled back in a silent snarl. "Watch it!" Eebon warned.

"Oi! Keep a hand your-I mean, Dune." Roaran said, looking at Dune's bared teeth and taking a step back. "Look here big man, I know you don't like me much, and I feel pretty much the same way for you, you're too sodding serious and walk around like you have Yusaris stuck up your arse… But this isn't about either of us, it's about Kylae! She's my friend, and I don't know what you two call each other these days, but I know that both of you still care about each other. And I think that you just might understand what she's feeling right now and be able to help her."

Eebon looked away from Roaran and back to Yusaris. The tip of the blade was in the ground, and Eebon's hands were wrapped around the hilt, he looked again at the inscription at the base of the blade and wondered again just what in the Fade it was supposed to mean, 'You are my mirror. – Reflect.' Eebon leaned the greatsword towards him and touched it to his forehead. "Where's she at?" He asked.

Like Eebon, Kylae sat away from the others. She was barely visible to Eebon as he approached, she sat crossed-legged on the ground, her back braced against a fallen tree, one hand raised to her mouth, gnawing on a knuckle. Eebon knew that whenever Kylae was chewing on a knuckle, that something was really bothering her. Eebon sat down across from her, laying Yusaris on the ground next to him. He didn't say anything. He knew that Kylae was the type of person who could not be pushed, she would talk when and if she wanted to, so he only sat and waited.

Kylae took her knuckle out of her mouth just long enough to say, "Roaran asked ya t'come didn't he?" Then the knuckle was replaced and the gnawing resumed.

"He did." Eebon answered.

"Why?"

"He wouldn't say. He just asked me to come and talk to you."

"Good." Kylae finally took her hand away from her mouth and lowered it, quivering, into her lap. "That means that I won't hafta kill 'im."

Eebon raised his eyebrows, Roaran hadn't been joking about how Kylae would kill him if he spilled the beans. "If you want me to leave, I'll leave. I know how you are… and I know you might not want to talk to me, given our history."

Kylae returned her knuckle to her mouth and continued gnawing for a few moments before replacing the hand in her lap again. "No." She said quietly, "Don't go." Kylae started rocking back and forth, there was no more knuckle-chewing but Kylae remained silent. "It's…" Kylae said in a barely audible voice, "It's hard for me to… to talk 'bout this. And… it's even harder for me to talk 'bout this with… you. But…" Kylae spoke a bit louder, "But the Duster was right. You… you might understand. And… I wanna… I want to tell ya."

For the second time that night, Kylae relayed the events that had unfolded for her in Haven. By the time she finished, Eebon was sitting with his arms braced on his knees and his hands clenched into fists, it was the only way he could keep from himself from moving to her side and holding her. He could see plain as day how badly she was hurting on the inside.

"She didn't have to die." Kylae finished. "She didn't need to die." Kylae nearly put her knuckle back in her mouth but managed to restrain herself. "I jus'… I saw her standin' there an' I panicked… I didn't even wait to see who it was… I jus' saw her and I threw a dagger… Why'd I do that? I keep askin' m'self that. And I keep askin' what I'm s'posed to do now."

"The same thing I do." Eebon answered after a moment's thought. "You realize that there's nothing you can do to change the past. All you can do is learn from it, and you tell yourself that you won't let the same thing happen twice… Kylae… I have killed so many people since this whole insane adventure started, and I have no idea how many of them actually deserved it, or were actually bad people… but I can't dwell on that, if I did I'd go crazy."

Kylae leaned back against the fallen tree. "Jus' like that? You jus' don't think about it?"

"No." Eebon said. "That's not possible. I still see them… every one of them in my nightmares, it's part of the reason I can't sleep. I just can't dwell on them. It goes along with the way of the warrior. We're not heroes like the stories make us out to be. We are weapons. Innocent people die. Innocent people always die, whether by our hand or by the hand of the enemy, nothing can change that. Our job is to make sure that they're deaths are not meaningless." Eebon unclenched is fists when he noticed that his fingers were starting to ache. "It took me a long time to come to peace with what I've done… and with what I've had to become, and actually… I really don't know if I am at peace with it yet, but I keep trying."

"Comin' to peace with a kid I murdered." Kylae said. "I don't know how I'm s'posed to do that."

Eebon shook his head. "I won't lie to you, Kylae. I don't know how you'll do that either. I just know that you will. That you have to. And when you do, you'll be all the stronger for it. Do not let her death be meaningless, let her teach you that we make mistakes, and it is only by overcoming them that we can know victory."

Kylae didn't answer. She just leaned against the tree again and arched her head up towards the sky. She stayed like that for several minutes, completely unmoving. Just when Eebon began to rise, Kylae said, "Eebon?"

"Yes?" He answered

"What happened between us those months back… it wasn't your fault. Sorry… I meant it wasn't all your fault. An' don't say that you're sorry, I know you're sorry. Jus' let me talk right now." Kylae sighed deeply and brushed a hand across her forehead pushing hair out of the way. "This isn't easy for me to say neither… but… it was my fault too. I didn't wanna listen to ya, I wanted to be angry, I wanted someone to blame. I couldn't accept that what you did was the best thing for me… and for the Wardens. It was so much easier jus' to think that you were jus' another shem, taking what you needed from an elf."

Eebon felt his jaw starting to drop. These were words that he never thought he would hear come from Kylae's mouth.

Kylae sighed again before she continued. "I loved you… so damn much. And I think that maybe that was something else that I really just couldn't accept, but I did… love you that is. And… now I… now I'm not sure what to feel. I see you with…" Kylae's face soured, even though Eebon couldn't see it in the darkness, "Leliana, and I really don't know why, or what you see in her, but she seems to make you happy, an' maybe she's… helping you in some ways. And I… well, that's what I wanted to say."

Again, Eebon felt the aching in his arms to hold Kylae, to feel her own arms around him, and the touch of his lips against hers again. Eebon pushed himself up from his seat on the ground and back to his feet, pushing the memories of Kylae out of his mind as he did so. Yusaris went across his back again. "Thank you." He said. "It's… it's good to that… that you don't hate me."

Kylae rose to her feet as well. "If I could go back. Go back in time I mean, then I would change more than jus' what happened today."

Eebon didn't answer. 'How am I supposed to answer something like that? If I agree with her than I am belittling whatever I may have with Leliana, and I am throwing away whatever honor I have left. If I say that I don't, then I am making her seem worthless.'

Fortunately however, Kylae relieved him from having to make that decision. "I'm sorry." She said as she walked past him. She didn't look back as she said, "I shouldn't have said that."

Despite however much Endrin didn't want to camp so close to Haven overnight, she eventually gave in to her companions requests, also it would have been almost impossible to move all of them through the woods and up a mountain, and keep them together in the dark. Not to mention they were even more likely to run into a patrol of fanatics while bumbling around in the dark of night. Endrin also continued to insist that no fire be built, and that at least two people stand watch that night. Eebon surprised everyone by asking to be excused from guard duty, and was the first one to go to bed. The others soon followed, as the lack of fire denied them the light they needed to carry out their normal activities. Dharr volunteered to take first watch, and Endrin announced she would stand guard with him.

Silence reigned between the two of them as the seconds turned to minutes and the minutes turned to an hour. Dharr stood leaning with his back against a tree, blank targe on his arm, and his axe propped up against an armored leg so he could easily grab it if the situation called for it. Endrin sat in the lowest branches of a tree, some eight feet above the ground, swinging one leg back and forth. An arrow already notched to Falon'Din's Reach, she idly plucked at the bowstring and fletching with her fingers and quietly hummed an elven song. Every so often the humming would give way to words, although she sang so softly that even if Dharr had understood the language he wouldn't have been able to hear what she was saying.

After roughly an hour of silence, Endrin stopped swinging her leg through the air, and stopped humming her song. She sighed deeply and slid off the tree limb, landing gracefully on her feet with only a soft grunt.

"Why, Dharr?" Endrin asked.

There was something behind her words, and Dharr wasn't sure what it was. Maybe anger, or it could have been curiosity, or even sadness. He didn't need to ask what she was inquiring about, that much was obvious. "For my homeland." He answered. "For Orzammar. I would do anything for her, and that will never change."

Endrin let the silence return for few moments before she said, "I used to think that you were a soldier, a simple man. I suppose I should have realized months ago that you are not."

"I am a simple man." Dharr countered. "And I am a soldier. One who loves his homeland… even if it doesn't love me back."

"And you would sacrifice the sons of daughters of Orzammar to become golems for it? Even after Caridin explained the horrors involved in—"

"Yes." Dharr answered before Endrin had finished the question.

"Why?" Endrin asked again, "That's where you lose me."

"Because it's necessary!" Dharr said, his normal placid voice rising. "Sacrifices are always necessary. How many soldiers die, sacrificing all they have to give so that they're brothers might taste victory? How many kings have laid down their lives for the good of their realm? And we have already sacrificed our own lives to stop the blight… even if it takes thirty years to catch up with us. Are the lives of a few hundred too high a price to push back the spawn and preserve Orzammar and the legacy of the Dwarva? I don't think so!"

"Yes they are! Those are real people, real souls that would be enslaved! It's completely different from a soldier laying down his life on the battlefield." Endrin immediately countered, "And if Orzammar shares your sentiment on that matter then it is already lost and not worth saving!"

"What do you know of war?" Dharr came back, and he was almost yelling now. "And if you think that, then you are no more than a naïve child! And what do you know of Orzammar and the Dwarva?" Dharr glared and Endrin and actually growled, "Nothing!"

"I am naïve?!" Endrin said, after recovering from her initial shock at Dharr's statement, and somehow it was Endrin who's voice was calm. "You are talking about the mass murder of your own people and without so much as batting an eye, and I am naïve? Maybe I am… but you are a cold-hearted butcher! Not a prince, not a commander, and not a warrior… a butcher!"

"All commanders and warriors are butchers!" Dharr said, trying to regain his characteristic cool. "How many times have you witnessed it already? You saw it today, in the way Eebon cut down half the entire village without hesitation, and I heard no complaints then."

"They would kill us!" Endrin snapped, her own voice was steadily rising now. "And Eebon was not sacrificing his own people, and laying their souls on the line. He was protecting us! And he did not do it as easily as you think… I know you saw him as he cut them down, and afterwards… you saw the look of devastation and pain on his face. He hated himself for having to do it, but he knew that it had to be done, and he spared their blood from staining our hands."

"And I would have saved my city, and my people, my entire race and culture!" The darkness prevented Endrin from seeing it, but Dharr's face softened. "But in so doing, I had to turn on you, my leader, and my friend. If given a choice, I would still want to use the Anvil to create more golems. But… I lost my honor in betraying you, and I lost your friendship as well. And right now I am not sure which I should have valued higher, my honor, or your friendship.."

"Yes." Endrin agreed. "While I cannot speak for your dwarven honor, but you have certainly lost any feelings of friendship that I had for you."

"So why didn't you let Sten kill me?" Dharr asked.

Endrin sighed again and delicately ran her fingers along the curve of her bow. "Because I owed you that much. And because I didn't want your blood on my hands. And because like Eebon said, if I had allowed Sten to kill you, then the others would never look at me the same way."

Dharr grunted and was silent again for a time. "Eebon said that…?" He grunted again, "The big man just might have makings of a better commander than I give him credit for." Then he seemed to remember himself. "Sorry about that, Endrin. You… you made the right choice from the stance of the leader you are… but it would have been easier for me if you had let Sten kill me."

Endrin arched an eyebrow. "You wanted to die?"

"In a way." Dharr answered, "Like I told Mardi back in Orzammar, when I was sentenced and exiled, I never felt like I had truly lost my honor. But after I broke my oath, that was when I lost my honor. You probably already know by now, that honor is everything to one of the Dwarva. While I have been restored in the eyes of my people, I know that I have lost everything, and death would have been easier to bare than the loss of my honor."

Now it was Dharr's turn to sigh deeply before continuing. "I never told anyone this, but my plan had been to stay in Orzammar after we fulfilled the treaty, and retake my place as commander so that I might lead them into battle against the darkspawn. But now… now the only way that I might regain my honor is to continue on in your service until such a time as I can redeem myself.

"I know that… that I have lost your friendship, and that is something that I will probably never be able to regain. Why you still trust me, and would ask for my input is something I don't understand, and something I would not do were I in your boots. Although I am grateful that you do. You are… you are a good leader… No, you're better than just another good leader, you a superb leader. And you are the leader that I could not be."

Dharr took up his axe and stepped away from the tree. There was a sharp clatter of metal on metal as he snapped to attention, and slapped his axe-hand against his chest in salute. "To the end, Commander, I am with you!"

Endrin nodded. "At this point, I'm not sure whether I should believe you or not." She said. "But, I will choose to trust you. For all the good you've done, I think it would be too harsh to judge you for the rest of your life because of one misdeed."

While writing this chapter, I had at first planned to have them storm the chantry like what happened in-game, but after writing the battle scene in the previous chapter, I was a bit worn out of writing those, so I decided to go with an alternative option for getting the medallion. I hoped you all liked it, and it was interesting to write about just one one Warden, going in completely alone with no backup to fall back on if she needed it.

With this chapter being almost completely about Kylae, I do think that that it's fitting I ramble on her character for a bit... Like Tylis, Kylae's character was seriously altered from how I had first planned her. Back before I actually started writing this, Kylae was going to be more a shy, laid back type person, and although she was recruited by Eebon, she still never really felt comfortable around him. Originally, I had planned her to be more a pure assassin, who could really only win a fight by using stealth, and therefore had to stay out of the heavy fights completely. Kylae was going to befriend Endrin early on, and eventually grow to trust and befriend the others as well, although much more slowly. After a while though, I decided that version of Kylae really wasn't very good, and she slowly evolved into the hostile little spit-fire that she is now.

Another thing that I think is interesting about Kylae, and the reason that she's my favorite of the Wardens now came from this question... what makes Kylae a good guy? Seriously, she has almost no patience for anyone, tolerates only a few people and is friends with even less, is extremely hostile, is really the only one of the Wardens who really enjoys killing and actually gets a rush out of it, and she'll even readily attack people who used to be friends, companions, or even lovers. All these are more like traits I'd more expect from a bad guy. Also, Kylae puts very little stock in being a Warden, and goes along with it really because she has no other choice, she pretty much flat-out told Endrin that she doesn't care about the blight. For the most part, unless you're already related to her, or you're a friend, Kylae just doesn't care. So what it really boiled down to is that Kylae is good guy more from her association with the others than anything else. But that's just my opinion, and you all are welcome to your own.