Hello everyone! Sorry, I totally spaced letting you guys know that I wasn't going to post last week due to the in-laws coming to visit for my daughter's birthday. We were super busy, moving almost all week. The only left a couple days ago. Needless to say, we were all tired and I'm glad to have my house back :)

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I know you'll love the end for sure ;)

35 - Crestwood

It takes a few weeks to finally hear from Hawke. Once I finally do, all of my companions decide to come, just as when we went to the Exalted Plains. Even Vivienne joins. Ever since I found her a key ingredient for a potion to help her sick lover—Duke Bastien—she has been warmer to me. He had died despite our efforts, but the fact that I went out of my way to hunt a very dangerous beast for her seems to have changed her mind about me. She even invited Bastien's sister—Marcelline—and son—Laurent—to Skyhold to meet me, and give me a current connection into the Council of Heralds. Both of them take to me immediately, despite Vivienne's warning that Marcelline has the temper of an "angry vulture." The ring Vivienne gives me as a gift is something I wear with pride, alongside my sylvanwood ring from my old Keeper.

Crestwood is not far from the Storm Coast and the weather reminds me much of the Fallow Mire. It rains endlessly, lightning dancing behind the clouds. Here and there, I can see bursts of blue sunlight behind the clouds, but it loses the war going on in the sky, shoved back time and time again.

Scout Harding greets us as we reach the outskirts. The look on her face is harsh. "Good to see you safe, Inquisitor. We've got trouble ahead."

"If you're on edge, I should alert the entire Inquisition."

The tenseness to her eyes softens a bit as she smiles. "Or increase my hazard pay. That's an option."

I laugh. "Are things that bad?"

She inclines her head at me, looking toward the vast lake just beyond the reach of the camp. I follow her, looking toward where she gestures. Far out on the other side, a large section of the lake churns and bubbles like boiling water, glowing green.

"Oh," I mutter.

"Crestwood was the site of a flood ten years ago during the Blight. It's not the only rift in the area, but after it appeared, corpses started walking out of the lake. You'll have to fight them to get to the cave where Ser Hawke's Grey Warden friend is hiding."

Great. It is just like the Fallow Mire. Sera will be pleased.

"What is it with Ferelden and the undead?" Blackwall says. "Didn't Redcliffe have the same problem?"

"Have any undead attacked the camp?" I ask.

She lifts one of her shoulders. "We've had a few shamblers, but most head toward the village below. Maybe someone in Crestwood can tell you how to get to the rift in the lake. Maker knows they'll want help." She then crosses her arm over her chest. "Good luck. And please be safe."

Sera walks up just as Harding leaves. "Undead. Again?" She groans. "Why is it always the undead? Shite's not right!"

All of us laugh at her.

"All right," I say, turning to the others. "Let's set up for the night. We'll figure out what we're doing in the morning."

"There must be a way to get to the rift in the lake."

Dorian looks at me. "Perhaps the locals will lend us a boat."

I stare out into the deep water, crossing my arms. Still, the water around the glowing green light beneath the surface churns. As much as I would like to head straight to the cave where Hawke and their Grey Warden waits for us, I cannot bring myself to leave this for later. Too many undead roam the lands. So instead, I had sent Varric along with Cassandra, Vivienne, Sera, and Iron Bull to clear to way to the cave. The rest stay with me to find a way to get rid of this rift.

"Which way was Crestwood, again?" I ask, turning to the friends behind me.

Solas nods his head toward the nearest hill. "That way, I would presume. It is the direction the undead are heading."

"Then let's follow them."

We find two soldiers wearing colors I don't recognize at the top of the hill, guarding a young elven girl.

"It's the Inquisitor!"

"Then Andraste is with us!"

Quickly, we take down the few undead corpses bearing down on them. Once they're gone, I can hear the voices of the three we helped drifting over to us.

"I'd go back to the village, miss. These roads aren't safe," one of the men says.

She leaves, running down the path and to the left.

"Grey Wardens," Blackwall whispers, hanging back a bit.

I pause. Grey Wardens? Here? Did this have anything to do with Hawke's Warden friend?

"The Grey Wardens thank you for your aid, Inquisitor." The man turns to me, nodding his head.

"What are you doing in Crestwood?" I ask.

"Looking for another Warden. Ser Stroud. He's wanted for questioning. If you see him, I'd keep your distance."

My heart drops. "What have you been told about this rogue Warden?"

"Warden-Commander Clarel ordered his capture. I can say no more than that. Maker willing, Stroud will lay down his arms when we meet. I worked under him for a time. Good man."

"Will you stay to fight the undead here?" I ask, motioning toward the corpses that lay motionless on the ground.

"My orders forbid it. Crestwood was only a detour."

The other man speaks up. "Is that all the aid we can offer these people?"

He is ignored. "If the Inquisition can help, I beg you to do what you can. The villagers have already lost too many."

They start to walk away then. My companions all walk over, huddling around me as we watch and listen to what the Wardens whisper amongst themselves.

"Ser, are you sure we can't help the village?"

"Our orders are clear. If we can't find Warden Stroud, we return to the Commander with all haste."

"Still don't feel right."

The sigh is almost unheard over the rain now, their voices starting to drift into the distance. "I know, but if I judge our orders rightly, harder decisions await."

They're gone now, voices too quiet to make out.

"None of those Wardens mentioned a new leader," I mutter. "I don't think they're part of Corypheus's plot to seize the Order." I look at my friends. "I hope Hawke's Warden friend has answers for us."

We keep moving, taking down demons and corpses. Eventually, we run into the elven girl that had been saved by the Grey Wardens in a small house on the outskirts of town. She speaks of wanting to join the Wardens, but after a few words by Solas, she decides to instead work for the Inquisition.

"The Wardens have too much going on right now," I say to her.

The guards outside of Crestwood fight the corpses trying to get through the gates. Already, many bodies lay burning on the ground. I can tell they've been fighting for far too long.

People inside point us toward the Mayor's residence. I try not to listen to the villagers' mutterings. Too long they've been cut off from contact. They're low on food, low on supplies.

"We should have come here ages ago," I whisper to Solas.

He says nothing.

The Mayor opens his door with a gasp. "The Inquisitor?" He steps aside, letting us all walk in to shake off the wet. "Mayor Dedrick of Crestwood Village." He bows. "At your service, despite everything." He motions toward his fireplace. We all crowd around it, warming our hands. "Are you…here to stop the undead?"

Dorian mutters something but I ignore him.

"The undead are appearing because of a rift in the Fade. How can I get to it?"

His eyes narrow. "The light in the lake? It's coming from the caves below Old Crestwood. Darkspawn flooded it ten years ago during the Blight. It wiped out the village, killing the refugees we took in."

I nod toward the door. "I saw a dam. If we use it to drain the lake, I can get to that Fade rift."

He takes a step back, his eyebrows rising high on his forehead. "Drain the—there must be some other way!"

Something is wrong. I can feel it deep within my being. He's too frightened, and of more than the corpses.

"Your people are frightened, and they're tired," Blackwall says. "Let us help."

"You'd have to evict the bandits in the old fort to use the dam. I can't ask you to risk your life."

I sigh. "Trust me, I've fought worse than bandits and the undead."

"Then…" He shakes his head, lets out a deep breath. "Then I have no choice." He walks across the room, to a dresser. He then hands me a key. "This key unlocks the gate to the dam controls past the fort. The rift must be in the caves under Old Crestwood. But Inquisitor… I would not linger there."

All of us continue to question him about the bandits and how the darkspawn had managed to flood Old Crestwood. By the time we leave his house, the look we all share with each other says it all: there's something more behind his fear than he's letting on.

We make our way to Caer Bronach: the fort the Mayor had mentioned. Almost immediately Blackwall notices that they're well defended.

"Archers on the ramparts," he says.

"This won't be easy," I mutter to him.

"No. But it's necessary if we want to drain the lake."

I nod. "Then let's get this done."

It's takes all the rest of the day and all night for us to take the fort. We opt for stealth, sneaking up on the groups of bandits scattered around the fort. Cole is the driving force behind our stealth, due to his powers to flit in and out of existence as a spirit.

"We shouldn't let this place go to waste," Blackwall suggests once all the bandits are dead. "The Inquisition could put this to good use."

I find a flagpole at the top of the fort. I light a signal, and within the hour some of the Inquisition scouts come, hang a flag to show our claim on the place.

"It'll take a few days for us to take this place fully, Inquisitor," one of them says to me. "I'll send word to the Nightingale to send more of her people here."

"Good," I say. "We need access to that dam, over there." I point. "Do you think you could work on taking it?"

"Of course, Your Worship."

I turn to my friends. "I'll send word to the rest. We should sleep."

"Hawke's Warden friend should be in that cave," Solas says as we near the spot on the map Hawke had sent us. He gestures to a small alcove in the mountainside up ahead.

Hawke is already there, waiting for us. "Glad you made it," she says. She nods at Varric. "Good to see you." She then points toward the depths of the cave. "He's back here."

I don't follow her immediately. "A group of Wardens were protecting a villager from corpses out near Crestwood."

"They were likely hunting my friend. I'm glad they didn't come looking for people to help in here. They might well be good men, but they've been given bad orders."

I walk past her, into the cave.

The tunnel is narrow, both sides close enough I can reach out and touch both without moving. Near the back, a makeshift wooden wall with a door has been put up, blocking off the last part of the cave. I look back at Hawke and she nods, motioning for me to continue.

The cave opens up significantly on the other side of the door. The space is almost perfectly round, circling around a table set up in the middle of the room. I frown as I walk farther in.

No one is here.

Suddenly, I hear a sword being drawn behind me. I turn, find myself looking at the end of a sword held by a man whose mustache would put Dorian's to shame.

Hawke walks in. "It's just us. I brought the Inquisitor."

The man looks back and forth between us for a moment and I take the few seconds to study him. He's got lightly tanned skin, stark black hair and stubble on his face. He wears armor similar to what the Grey Wardens we'd met earlier wear.

He finally lowers his sword, sheathing it. "My name is Stroud, and I am at your service, Inquisitor."

"Most of you Wardens disappear," I say, figuring I should get right to the point. "Then I run into a darkspawn Magister named Corypheus. Do you think that one might have something to do with the other?"

"I fear it is so. When my friend Hawke slew Corypheus, Weisshaupt was happy to put the matter to rest. But an Archdemon can survive wounds that seem fatal, and I feared Corypheus might possess the same power." He walks away, toward the table littered with books and parchment. "My investigation uncovered clues but no proof. Then, not long after, every Warden in Orlais began to hear the Calling."

Hawke gasps, stepping foward. "Maker, why didn't you tell me?"

"It was a Grey Warden matter. I was bound by an oath of secrecy."

I hesitate. "Is the Calling some sort of Grey Warden ritual?"

He turns around. "The Calling tells a Warden that the Blight will soon claim him. Starts with dreams. Then come whispers in his head. The Warden says his farewells and goes to the Deep Roads to meet his death in combat."

"And every Grey Warden in Orlais is hearing that right now?" Hawke asks. "They think they're dying?"

He nods. "Yes, likely because of Corypheus. If the Wardens fell, who will stand against the next Blight? It is our greatest fear."

I clench my fists, feel my nails dig into the palms of my hands.

Hawke's face scrunches with disgust. "So Corypheus isn't controlling them. He's bluffing them with this Calling, and they're falling for it."

"Is the Calling they're hearing real, or is Corypheus mimicking it somehow?" I ask.

Stroud shakes his head. "I know not. Even as a senior Warden, I had heard only the vaguest whispers of Corypheus. The Wardens believe that this Calling is real, and they will act accordingly. That is all we know for certain."

"You said all the Wardens are hearing the Calling. Does that include you?" I turn around, look at Blackwall behind me. "And also you, Blackwall?"

Stroud sighs. "Sadly, yes. It lurks like a wolf in the shadows around a campfire. The creature that makes this music has never known the love of the Maker but… At times, I almost understand it. We must uncover what Corypheus has done and end it. This cannot stand."

"I do not fear the Calling," Blackwall says, shaking his head. "And worrying about it only gives it power. Anything Corypheus does will only strengthen my resolve."

"How can Corypheus make all these Wardens hear the Calling?" I ask.

"I cannot say. We know little about him, save that he is dangerous. He is a Magister as well as a darkspawn—and speaks with the voice of the Blight. That lets him affect the minds of Wardens, since we are tied to the Blight ourselves. It must be how he created this false Calling."

I throw my head back in exasperation. Why can't things just go simply for once? "So the Wardens are making some last, desperate attack on the darkspawn?"

"We are the only ones who can slay Archdemons. Without us, the next Blight will consume the world. Warden-Commander Clarel spoke of a blood magic ritual to prevent future Blights before we all perished. When I protested the plan as madness, my own comrades turned on me." He fights back the sadness in his face, walks back over to the table. "Grey Wardens are gathering here, in the Western Approach."

Great. More traveling. I walk up, look down at the map he points to, committing the spot to memory.

"It is an ancient Tevinter ritual tower. Meet me there, and we will find answers."

Quickly, he gathers his important papers, stuffing them in his pack. Hawke and him then exchange a look before leaving the cave, nodding at us as they pass.

I sigh. "Let's head back to camp. Let the others know."

Late that night, as everyone is piling into their tents to sleep, Solas gives me a look that makes me hang back. Once everyone is quiet, I head in the direction Solas had disappeared.

It's still raining. I can't help but wonder if the brewing rift in the lake is spewing water into the air, giving the illusion of rain. The hood over my head barely keeps my face dry.

Solas finds me after a minute or so of walking. "Come," he says, grabbing my hand and pulling me farther from camp.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"You shall see."

There's a small cave not too far from camp. Inside, a small fire already burns, warming the space quite a great deal.

"What're we doing here?"

"More Fade lessons," he says. "I figured it was a good time."

There are no herbs laid out by our bedrolls this time.

"Is that…all?"

His smile is mischievous. "Well, maybe not all."

I laugh, letting his arms drift around me as his lips meet mine. His fingers reach into my cloak, pull it off without hesitation. I let him guide me to the bedrolls, already pulling my clothes up and over my head.

I do not fall asleep right away. Instead, I lay in his arms, run my finger across his bare chest. This makes him chuckle and kiss the top of my head.

"Ar lath ma, vhenan," he whispers.

I smile into his neck. "Always." I then push myself up, look down at him. "Why no herbs this time?"

"You should practice without them. You will not always have them at your disposal."

I frown. "Then, how will I enter the Fade?"

"On your own. Through your dreams."

I sigh, lay my head back down in the crook of his neck. His hands trail down my back, making me shiver. His touch leaves trails of fire burning across my skin so easily. Already I can feel myself tensing, feel the burn spreading through me. I tilt my head back, kiss the underside of his jaw.

He laughs. "You're insatiable."

"Maybe." I continue kissing him. "What was it that Sera said? 'Drop 'em and rebuild the empire?'"

He's starting to lose his concentration. I can tell by the way he sighs. "Don't tell me you find that funny."

"Of course I do. She's hilarious. Part of it because she annoys you so."

He groans, though I can't tell if it's from my words or my lips against his neck. "She isn't…" He swallows. He finally moans in defeat, pulls me on top of him. He then lets out a small roar, as Sera had done to try to get a rise out of him.

We both laugh. But our laughter quickly dies out, our breathing now too heavy to allow for it.

This time, I do fall asleep after, my body now too exhausted to stay awake any longer.