Enticement

So we continued, battling shades and demons of hunger, rage, and pride, and abominations that exploded into fire after they fell. One such demon of pride had a templar under her control. Despite our best efforts, we had no choice but to end his dream like state of mind. He had driven Alistair to the ground when I shoved my sword straight down from his spine to his tailbone.

"Thank you," my fellow warden said as he pushed himself back up. He observed the now dead templar with an expression I could not read before he finally sheathed his sword.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…it's just," he paused and cleared his throat, "if Duncan hadn't recruited me, I could have been him."

I had a sickening image of a possessed Alistair dressed in full templar regalia with the same dead look in his eyes, beating me down with a weapon. It made me very uncomfortable.

"We must keep moving," Wynne interrupted my thoughts. "We are so close to where Uldred must be. I can feel the tears in the Veil changing."

I could feel it too. As we moved room by room, level by level, the mass amounts of magic emanating from the ceiling became stronger.

"If this door works we can get across the tower faster," she continued. "Uldred must be in the Harrowing chamber. The Veil is thinner there, so the demons have an easier time of coming into our world from that room."

The door did open, but it was a room covered in more flesh like substances, with a demon once again in our way, but he did not move to attack us. Instead, he slowly rose up from a body and inspected us like he was observing a struggling fly that was stuck on its back. "Oh look," it drawled, cocking its head slowly at us. "Visitors. I'd entertain you but…too much effort involved."

I felt my eyelids drop, and it was a huge effort to get them open again. "Get out of my way demon," I said numbly. I had meant it to come out a little more aggressively, but my vocal chords were not responding properly. I refrained from the massive urge to yawn.

"Why fight?" the demon shrugged lazily. "Wouldn't you like to just lay down and…forget about all this? Leave it all…behind?"

"Frozen again. Lovely," Shale mused dryly before I felt the golem shut off.

Uh-oh.

"Resist. You must resist, else we are all lost…" Wynne fell to the floor with an unceremonious thud.

I heard Alistair's armour crash against the floor immediately after. "Can't…keep eyes open. Someone…pinch…me."

I too was suddenly on all fours, struggling to keep my arms from buckling so I didn't face plant onto the cold stone floor.

"Why do you fight?" the demon knelt down in front of me. Its gnarled hand gently cupped my face, though I wanted to jerk away. "You deserve more. You deserve a rest. The world will go one without you…"

"Abby! I thought you were getting us a snack? Are you milking the cow to get the cheese dip?" Mike called from the living room.

I blinked myself awake from whatever daydream I had caught myself in. Shaking my head, I quickly dumped the chips into the bowl and grabbed my beer from the cheap wooden counter. "Coming Mr. Patience!" I chimed back.

I hit the swinging door with my hip and placed the chips and dip onto the coffee table before sitting down beside Jared. He took a chip daintily while his boyfriend started stuffing chips down his throat. "Ah yes, nothing is ever as good as a chip with the right dip," Jared said with a frown thrown at his boyfriend.

"What?" Mike said innocently as he double dipped.

A heavy sigh escaped Jared's lips, "The elegance you have astounds me sometimes."

"Someone bring out the waders because it is getting deep in here," I muttered to myself.

"Hey," Mike pouted.

Our apartment door whipped open. "The party has arrived!"

I gasped. Standing in the doorway was my high school sweetheart. He looked just like I remembered the messy ginger hair, tall, broad, and a cheeky smile at his lips. His bright blue eyes twinkled as he saw the mess Mike had made already. "Whoa, looks like WWIII happened on your shirt Mike. Slow down man."

Mike flipped him off.

"Tyler," I finally said. "W-what are you doing here?"

He laughed and sat down next to me, hugging me close. "In case you had forgotten pretty lady," he kissed me on the cheek, "you invited me."

Before I had a chance to protest, Jared cleared his throat. "What happened to the dear Amber and Kat? I thought you were supposed to drive them."

"I did," Tyler stretched out on the coach. "Apparently Kat has some emergency student council meeting. I thought that only happened in cheese 80's movies. Amber had to go check something with a prof but said she'd be here soon."

"This isn't right," I put in before there could be any more interruptions. "Why are you here Tyler? Why aren't you back at home?"

He looked at me quizzically. "Last I checked this was my home. Or did I dream up signing that lease. No more getting high during the day for me I guess."

"Jesus Abby you're paler than that kid in biochem today. Is everything alright?" Mike asked.

"No!" I jumped up from the coach, "Tyler you should be in Canada working with your father building homes. I graduated and left, and we had to break up. This isn't how it's supposed to be!"

The three boys looked at me as if I had grown and extra head. "Of course this is how it is supposed to be," Jared stated simply. "This is how you've always wanted it. For all of us to be friends, to all go to school together, to be with him," he jerked a finger at Tyler.

"No," I started to cry silently. "This isn't how my life is anymore." I looked around and I noticed other inconsistencies. The television looked transparent, the coils in the lights were non-existent, the light coming from them just floating inside the glass, and the lack of phones on the coffee table was enough to set my memory off.

The Circle. The mages. The demons. The demon! Ferelden.

"Don't cry," Tyler said gently. He stood up and brushed away the tears with his thumb pads. "You're so beautiful, you don't have to cry. You could be happy here."

I looked down at my feet. "Maybe six months ago I could have, but I can't. Not anymore." I took his hands and pulled them away from my face before letting go. I backed up and opened the door.

"Abby," Mike stood up too. "You said you would never leave my side. You said we would always be best friends."

My chest felt as if it had been split open. "I did," my voice quivered. "And I meant what I said that day. But I have a new life now." I turned and opened the door, unsurprised that it did not open to my hallway, but a strange green tinged environment. "This isn't my home," I breathed out painfully, "I am never" I choked back more tears, "ever going to be able to go home." As soon as I stepped through the door, my armour and weapons appeared on my body.

"Abigail," Tyler whispered just as I closed the door, causing my heart to scream, telling me to turn back, but it was too late. My hand left the door knob, and the door disappeared into the grand nothingness that Alistair had once called the Fade.

Everything about what was in front of me was terrifying. Large pillars of earth floated in the green tinged sky, which constantly shifted. It was like I was Frodo and had put on the Ring and become invisible, but there was an entirely separate world in store. A world that knew I should be completely afraid of.

"You…You figured it out. You got out of the nightmare."

I panicked to say the least, whipping my sword out at the sound. I wildly looked around for the source of the voice, and found a cowering man in robes not far from my feet.

"Are you not real either?" I hissed.

"I am real. I mean you no harm," he lowered his arms. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and slow, as if at any moment he would drift away. "My name is Niall. I am a mage from the Circle Tower, or I was, before I became trapped here."

I lowered my sword. "What do you mean trapped?"

"I've gone through the doors on this island so many times, but I cannot get to the center to kill the demon that rules this part of the Fade. I've seen mice holes, but I cannot get through them. It is hopeless."

"I have to try, my friends could be stuck here too." I breathed in to try to calm myself, but it did not work so well. I walked away from the man in a random direction hoping to find an answer.

Hoping to free myself from the Fade.