The next day, Sereda group meet up with Theron and Leliana in a tavern and she couldn't help but notice the smiles on their faces. It didn't take her long to realise that the two of them had expressed their feelings to one another.

"Did you find anything other than Leliana's bedroll?" Sereda asked.

"You're terrible," said Leliana. "We found the caravan."

"They'd tried to avoid darkspawn, and ended up trapped in a little valley by them with some merchants. We killed some darkspawn to create a distraction and got them on the move again. Also one of the merchant we rescued gave us a golem control rod and a command word. He said there was a golem in Honnleath, a village not too far from here. I thought since we're heading to the unknown in Haven I thought having a golem on our side would be handy.

"I like you're thinking. Any of the others back?"

"No. We only arrived last night," said Leliana. "How did your quest go?"

"More incompetent assassins. Hopefully the others will return soon. We are heading to Honnleath as soon as everyone arrives."

His face actually broke into a smile. "Then lead the way."

Kallian and Zevran arrived shortly before dinner. Kallian saw her, and tossed her a salute. "One Bann rescued. Supply wagons underway."

"Let all flee before the wrath of the wardens," said Zervan.

"Don't forget we don't want to scar the people we're saving that's the darkspawns job," siad Sereda.

"Ah, you ruin all the fun," Kallian complained.

The next morning, she saw Daylen and Morrigan sitting at a table, apparently having breakfast. She gestured to one of the servants, then joined them. "When did you two get in?"

"Shortly before midnight," said Morrigan. "We did not feel it necessary to wake you."

She nodded. "And the soldiers?"

"A demon. Took care of it."

"I'll send word to Teagan. Will you two be good to head out again?"

They both nodded. She looked from one to the other, and then nodded in return. Daylen, at least, she trusted, and he seemed able enough to handle Morrigan. Theron also mentioned that he trusted him completely and he was a Dalish elf. "We'll leave as soon as everyone has eaten."

"What do we know about Haven?" Kallian asked.

"Next to nothing, I'm afraid. It's a rather isolated village," said Sereda.

"My clan has never visited that part of the land. The Keeper said that danger lingers there and she may be right, because I've heard of Dalish climbed venturing up there and never returning."

"And on that cheery note. We'll stop in Honnleath, refresh our supplies, and see what they know." Sereda adjusted her weapon harness as they headed out.

Honnleath had been overrun. Sereda divided them into teams. She took Sten, Faren Wynne. She put Elissa in charge of the second team, consisting of Alistair, Kallian, and Zervan. She considered a moment, then gave Daylen charge of the third team, Morrigan, Theron, and Leliana.

She sent Elissa down the centre and Daylen to the west before taking the east. Zevran managed to make himself useful by disarming a few traps as they moved through. She called out the darkspawn as they went, and they managed to save a few villagers. Not many.

Once the darkspawn was clear Theron approached the golem that was standing in the middle of the village. Sereda could tell was actual golem by just looking at it, but it stood motionless and at the moment it was nothing more than a statue covered in pigeon droppings.

Theron raised the control rod and yelled, "Dulef gar!"

However nothing happened.

"Are you sure that's the code word?" Sereda asked.

"Word from word, but I either I'm doing something wrong with the rod or the code word is incorrect and I can still sense darkspawn close by."

"Well, killing the darkspawn should be our main priority and worry about the golem later," said Sereda. She then looked at Elissa. "Elissa, you and your team stay here and watch our backs."

"You got it," said Elissa.

They had made their way down beneath the village and found darkspawn tried to break through some sort of magical perhaps. They could see several villages trapped behind it, they were quite fortunate.

Once they dealt with the darkspawn they approach the force field and the villages looked at them with relief.

"By the Maker! We're saved!" said a woman.

One of the men approached them, who was obviously the leader of the small group. "You… weren't sent by the bann, were you? To save us?"

Sereda shook her head. "We weren't sent by anyone."

"So we could have just starved here? The bann gave up on us?" the man said bitterly. He then looked at them with appreciation. "I suppose I should be grateful that someone came at all, then. Thank you."

He then frowned. "But if you want sent by anyone, why are you here? If you don't mind my asking."

Theron then spoke up. "We're looking for whoever owns that statue outside."

The man blinked. "The statue outside? Why would—" He then realise why they came. "Oh, I think I see. You bought the control rod, didn't you? You came here looking for Shale."

He then raised his hand which was holding a key and within seconds the force field began to change colour. Almost at once the villages ran out through it and ran as fast as Alexa carry them. Sereda couldn't blame them, the last place she would want to be was in a village overrun by darkspawn. He then gestured for them to enter Theron stepped up in places handle the force field and found his hand could go right through it.

"My name is Matthias and that damnable golem brought us nothing but trouble," the mage said bitterly. "My mother sold the rod years ago, after it killed my father, and good riddance."

Sereda stared at him. "Killed your father? What do you mean?"

"My father was Wilhelm, mage to the Arl of Redcliffe and a hero in the war against Orlais. And what did he get? One day my mother found him outside the tower, with so many broken bones she could barely recognise him, and Shale standing over him just like it is now. My father deserve better than that. But if you want to wake Shale up…" He paused for a moment and Sereda fear that he would help them, but her fear quickly disappeared. "Well, it's yours now."

Faren crossed his arms. "Is there anything else you can tell us about this golem?"

"My mother never talked about it much. I was as a child when my father died…" He closed his eyes and looked at them seriously. "Look, I know you probably have more important things on your mind, but…" He then took a deep breath. "I really need your help. I know you already saved my life, and I'm grateful, but my daughter, Amalia, is inside the laboratory! She was afraid, and ran to far in before I could stop her. I don't know how she made it past my father's defences. One of the men tried to go after her. He was killed. But… you could find, couldn't you?"

Sereda didn't like the sound of defences and neither did Faren apparently. "What killed this man who went after her?" he asked.

"The defence as my father put down here to keep strangers out. I knew about the barrier, I had the key for that, but the rest of it? We never came down here. Ever."

Sereda frowned. "How do you even know she's still alive?"

"I… don't, it's true," he admitted. "I'm terrified that something happened to her, and she's lying in their injured! I can't believe here until I know for certain. Sure you understand that?"

Theron placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll see if we can find her."

He looked up. "You will? Thank the Maker!" He then pointed to the door nearby. "My father's laboratory is just past the next area, I think. She has to be there!"

"Great, heading down into the unknown," Faren mumbled.

"You can stay here if you like?" Sereda suggested.

"Nah, you guys won't last the second without me."

They then headed towards the door in the hopes to locate Amalia.

They soon discovered what killed the man that went after Amalia. Demons, fortunately they were much better prepared than he was an easy slew them.

They kept on walking and walked through another barrier like the one Matthias used. They soon found themselves in a chamber ahead of them was some sort of puzzle with flames shooting out. There they found Amalia, who was stroking a cat and looked totally unharmed.

Amalia saw them coming and looked up excitedly. "Oh, look! Someone's come to play! You have come to play, haven't you? We're playing a guessing game. It's better with more people."

Sereda look to the others and knew at once that this was not going to be as easy as the first thought.

"We? Who is 'we'?" Theron asked.

Amalia smiled up at him. "Kitty and me, of course! You don't see anyone else here, do you? Anyway. You should go if you're not going to play. Kitty finds you distracting."

Faren raised an eyebrow. "The cat… finds us distracting?"

"Kitty is clever. She says you'll want to take me back to my father, but I'm not going. She would be lonely!"

Then surprisingly, the cat spoke and its eyes glowed purple. "You are so kind, Amalia. I would miss you dearly if you left."

Daylen quickly raised his staff and Sereda feared she knew what the cat was. "That's not really a cat, is it?"

Amalia blinked as if the cat speaking was a normal everyday thing. "Of course she's a cat! She just talks, that's all."

"Talking is simple enough, once you know how."

Sereda crossed her arms. "Right, what are you really?"

"I am a cat. Really. Nothing you say will convince Amalia to go with you. She loves only me now. I am her friend, while you are just strangers."

Daylen pointed to staff at the cat. "What have you done to her?"

"I have done nothing. I am all but powerless. The mage made sure that, didn't he?" The cat then gestured to the barrier. "I cannot leave. No, Amalia found me. After decades of isolation, her company is… welcome."

Amalia then happily contented a sigh. The cat then narrowed her eyes. "It seems we are at an impasse, so let me produce a… compromise of sorts. Release me, mortal, and let me have the girl. Let us return to our father and I leave this place forever."

Daylen narrowed his eyes. "Let you have the girl? You mean possess her?"

"That such a crude way of putting it. I do not wish to harm Amalia. I merely want to see your world through her eyes. Is that so wrong?"

Sereda was about to argue, but Faren step forward. "We'll free you, and you can have the girl."

They all stared at him in the cat smiled at him. "Thank you. You are very gracious. The mage's wards hold me with in this chamber, and only a mortal may approach them." She then wandered over to the puzzle in the centre of the chamber. "There is a trick to disarming the wards, but I do not know it. Perhaps you succeed where this girl failed."

Amalia stood up excitedly clapping her hands. "Oh, this is so exciting! Kitty is going to be free!"

They wandered over to the puzzle and when they were far enough away from earshot Sereda grabbed Faren by the beard. "Ouch, watch the beard!"

Sereda glared at him furiously. "What were you thinking?"

"You do realise you made a deal with the demon and we all remember what happened to Conner," Daylen pointed out.

"Yes, but it's not going to release Amalia until we do what it say and before she possesses her we kill her," said Faren.

Sereda released Faren. "You lied to the demon."

"Of course I did, did you really think I was going on letting that thing possess that little girl?"

"Remind me not to play Diamondback against you."

Once that was settled they began work on the puzzle, Sereda was more depth to fighting rather than puzzle solving. Fortunately, Theron and Daylen managed to work it out and soon the barrier began to fade.

"Yes… I can feel the magic fading," said Kitty blissfully. "Oh… I had forgotten how it feels to not be caged!"

Amalia looked down at her now looking slightly scared. "Kitty? What's happening?"

"A wonderful thing, my dear, of both of us."

Faren then pullled out his greatsword. "I said we'd free you. I didn't say we'd let you live."

Kitty growled at them. "Betrayer! You will not take the girl! She is mine!"

Amalia quickly backed away from her face for fear now. "Kitty, you're scaring me! I won't let you inside me! I won't!"

She then ran off ran past them and exited the chamber as fast as her legs could carry her. Then Kitty revealed her true form, she was a Desire Demon. Next second she summoned several Wraith Demons from out of nowhere.

Daylen and Morrigan quickly raised the staffs and sent a powerful cold wind at the Wraith Demons and Sereda led the others against the Desire Demon. Slain her was quite easy and then Theron and Leliana smashed right through the Wraith Demons.

A few minutes later they returned to Matthias, who was hugging Amalia as if he was afraid that she would disappear. He looked up when he saw them and gave them all very appreciated looks.

"You did it! You freed her! Thank you so much!" he said.

"I'm sorry I ran away, Daddy! I was scared!" said Amalia hugging her father's leg.

Matthias ruffled her hair. "It's all right, butterfly. You're safe, now. All the bad creatures are gone." He then looked at Sereda. "You need a phase to activate Shale. It's dullen harn. I wouldn't want the thing, but it's obvious you can handle yourself just fine. Now we should go, and quickly. Thank you again. We owe you our lives."

They soon emerge outside and found Elissa and the others waiting for them.

"You found the correct code word?" Elissa asked.

"Yes," said Theron.

"The merchant had the command word wrong," said Sereda.

"Oh. How did you find the real one?" Kallian asked.

"We rescued a little girl from a demonic cat."

She laughed. "You know, if we weren't Wardens, that would actually sound like a strange day."

Theron handed the control rod to Faren and he approached the golem. "Dulen harn!"

They waited for a few seconds and at first they thought that it wasn't going to work. Then they heard some sort of grinding noise from the golem and then it twitched. It then began to move and approached them with an emotionless expression.

The golem sighed. "I knew that the day would come when someone would find the control rod. And not even a mage, this time. Probably stumbled across the rod by accident, I suppose. Typical."

"And how do you know Faren isn't a mage?" Kallian asked.

The golem snorted. "I know a dwarf when I see one and these crystals aren't simply for show. I stood here in this spot and watched the wretched little villages scurry around me for, oh, I have no idea how long. Many, many years."

Alistair blinked. "And the villagers had no idea you were watching? Creepy."

Morrigan crossed her arms. "Then one wonders that you wouldn't be grateful to the one who rescued you to stretch your legs, golem."

The golem narrowed its eyes. "Hmm. Another mage, I see. Charming." It then looked disappointed rather than relieved. "I was just beginning to get used to the quiet, too. Tell me, are all the villages dead?"

Sereda narrowed her eyes. "I take it that wouldn't concern you?"

"Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say, and after thirty years as a captive audience, I was as familiar with those images as one could possibly be. Not that I would wish their fate on them, no, but it did make for a delightful change of pace."

Daylen looked at it with an interesting gaze. "Did you watch the attack?"

"Not as much as it would think. There was running and screaming… and then days and days of watching the darkspawn prowl around. I would never have thought there would be something less interesting than the villagers, but there it was." He then looked at Faren. "Well, go on, then. Out with it. What is its command?"

"Why are you calling us 'it'?" Theron asked.

"Enchanted sense of perversity. The last one who held the damnable rod used to call me 'golem.' 'Golem, fetch me that chair.' 'Do be a good goal and squash that insipid bandit.' And let's not forget 'Golem, pick me up. I tire of walking.'" He then looked at Faren with curiosity. "It… dose have the control rod, doesn't it? I am aware, so it… must…"

Faren held out the control rod. "It certainly does, right in its hand."

"I see the control rod, yet I feel…" He paused and looked at Faren. "Go on. Order me to do something."

Faren shrugged. "All right. Walk over there."

The golem just stared amazed. "And… nothing? I feel nothing. I feel no compulsion to carry out its command. I suppose this means that the rod is… broken?"

Elissa looks slightly nervous. "Can it be fixed?" she asked hopefully.

"I don't know. I thought the rod simply was. It certainly works well enough to re-animate me." It then looked at its hands. "Hmm. I suppose if I can't be commanded, this means… I have free will, yes? It is simply… what should I do? I have no memories, beyond watching this village for so long. I have no purpose… I find myself had a bit of a loss." It then looked down at Faren. "What about it? It must have awoken me for some reason, no? What did it intend to do with me?"

Faren rubbed his beard. "I can think of many uses for personal golem."

The golem narrowed its eyes. "May I ask what sort of things it gets up to, for which I could be so particularly useful?"

"We're Grey Wardens in need of aid against the Blight," said Sereda.

"It refers to the darkspawn, the very creatures that destroy this village." The golem scratched its chin thoughtfully. "The darkspawn are an evil that must be destroyed, it's true. Though not as evil as the birds… damnable feathered fiends!" It then looked at all them. "I suppose I have two options, do I not? Go with it or… go somewhere else? I… do not even know what lies beyond this village."

"What do you want to do?" Theron asked.

"I watched this village for so long, unable to move or act. My memories of everything for me are… vague get best. So I have no idea what I want to do. I am glad to be mobile, is that not enough?"

"You're welcome to come with us," said Sereda.

Alistair looks slightly concerned. "Are… you certain you want to bring that thing with us? It could be dangerous. And large."

Faren shrugged. "Think of it as a possible battering ram."

Alistair nodded. "Good point. Better it than me, anyhow."

"I will follow it about then… for now," said the golem. "I am called Shale, by the way."

Faren smiled. "I am Fare, a pleasure to meet you."

"This should be interesting."

"We best head over to Haven now," said Sereda.

They all nodded and exited the village and Faren couldn't help but notice that Shale killed a chicken for some unknown reason. Things were certainly going to be interesting for now on.