Veira exhaled deeply as the last minute of her meditation was over. She blinked when her stomach rumbled loudly, getting up quickly and smiling that such an action took much less out of her than before. The month was almost up. It would be strange to return to the war, with all its unpredictability and instability. Here, she had a concrete schedule.

Meditate in the morning. Walk several laps around the Circle in the afternoon. More meditation. Spar with whoever was willing in the evening. Eat in the between moments she could catch. It had worked wonders on her stamina, and she did feel more confident on those long walks around the country they had been doing since the Blight started. She did lose more energy than she did when she was not hurt, but she knew she couldn't return to that again. She was still working on accepting it.

She made her way to the mess hall to grab some late breakfast, and noticed that Oghren was sitting by himself at a bench, poking at some porridge but happily drinking from his canteen. The man had spent the last while attempting to get used to the surface, and it made him quite irritable most days. She couldn't blame him really, having an open sky with sunlight (and snow) was a completely new thing he had to get used to. She tried to be comforting as much as possible, though she did not know if that worked much.

She quickly grabbed some food and made her way over. "Hello, Oghren. Mind if I sit here?"

"Sure warden, join me in my sodding hole." Oghren said, motioning to the spot in front of him.

"You alright?" she asked as she sat down.

"Eh. Just tired, is all." He poked at his porridge again. He glanced at her awkwardly. "Listen. You and I...we've been through some stuff, yeah? I figure I can rely on you for... stuff."

Veira blinked. "Of course. What do you need?"

"So back in Orzammar, after Branka left, there was a girl I knew. Name's Felsi." He grinned. "She and I were, heh. Close, if you get my meanin'."

Ah. She wondered if their relationship was like those in the Circle, where many sought out several partners. Generally, this would only work if all the partners knew about each other and were okay with it, so somehow Veira doubted this was the case. Many times the way Oghren spoke about their marriage, they didn't sound very happy.

"Anyway, things ended between us and she and her mom moved to the surface. To someplace on Cleanbad lake or something."

"...Calenhad."

"Sure. Knew it was around the magic Circle and since we're here...I was wonderin' if I should look her up. Didn't go any sooner 'cause I didn't want to spend the whole time with my eyes closed."

"Circle of Magi," she said, the corners of her mouth trying to twitch into an amused smile. "It sounds like a good idea to catch up with old friends. Perhaps the inn on the island would be the first place to go? It's really only one of the few places to work in the area, as I am told."

Oghren roared a laugh. "See! I knew I shoulda talked to you about it! You want to come? Be my wingman? Winglady? Whatever."

"Oh, sure. I could use some fresh air," she shrugged, "and be your winglady? I'm not entirely sure what that means."

Oghren chuckled. "Oh, you'll see. Thanks warden." He downed his porridge in a few gulps, finishing off his ale even faster. Then he sprinted towards the guest rooms, leaving a confused Veira at the table by herself.

She looked down at her own food. "Oh. Okay. Guess we'll go soon, then?"


Veira adjusted her cloak as she watched over the side of the boat, light snowfall poking her cheeks and nose. Winter was almost over now. Soon spring would come, the weather would turn sweet and rain would fall at least every two days. She was sure the Circle was looking forward to it; winter made moving people through the lake more complicated, as mages had to stand and melt the water every few hours when it was cold enough.

They made it to shore with no issue, and when they made their way to the inn, Veira peeked through the window to see if there was a dwarven woman working. Sure enough, there was. "Oghren," she said, pointing, "is that her?"

Oghren looked through, and an immediate toothy grin blossomed. "Yeah. That's her alright. Okay, listen. All you gotta do is back me up. You got fancy words, use those if I'm stumblin' for what to say next."

"O-okay," Veira said, wondering why he didn't want to talk to her alone. Well, whatever he needed. Maybe he was nervous because of what happened with Branka? In fact, this seemed like a good step for him coming to terms with Branka, though he hadn't spoke of her much since the Deep Roads. And when he did, it was never anything remotely healthy.

When they walked in and Felsi noticed Oghren, her face went from the usual customer service smile to a very good impression of someone eating something rotten. Oh dear, Veira thought, this might not go so well.

"Hey, have you been to a baker? Cause you got a nice set of buns."

Oh, Maker, Veira groaned internally, this is going to go terribly.

Felsi was not that fazed however. She just sighed. "What are you doing here?"

Oghren grinned. "Heh. Well, I just got finished fighting a shit ton of darkspawn and found myself here. Bonus that you're also here."

"You're fighting darkspawn?" she asked, disbelief written all over her face. She glanced at Veira. "And you are?"

"My name is Veira," she replied awkwardly, "and I am Oghren's friend."

"Huh. You admit that willingly? That's new." Felsi rolled her eyes back to Oghren. "Of all the inns and places you could have gone, you end up here?"

"Uhh," Oghren mumbled, casting a quick 'help me' glance at Veira.

A few things quickly shot through her head, and she used the most romantic solution that could be true. "Uhm, tell her it's fate," she whispered. It could be true.

"It's fate Felsi," Oghren grinned, "gotta respect the ol' Stone when it wants you to find someone."

Felsi scoffed. "Fate has a sense of humour then."

Oghren glanced at Veira once again, and an awkward few seconds passed as Veira struggled to think of what he could say next that wasn't an outright lie. Something that was nice, possibly sweet. "Ah..." she whispered again, "tell her that you've been thinking about her."

"I've been thinking about you, Felsi," Oghren said, after nodding a quick thank you.

"Ugh, what do you want, Oghren?" Felsi demanded, finally fed up with this.

"Nothin'. Just wanted to see how you were doing, is all."

Oh. That was actually a good answer.

"And possibly grease-up the ol' bronto, if you know what I mean."

Ah. It was nice while it lasted.

"Right." Felsi sighed. "If you two are done, I have work to do."

Perhaps she could salvage this. With only the truth, of course.

"Before you go, "Veira said, "if I may say a few things. It is true that Oghren is fighting darkpsawn. I am a Grey Warden, and I've been collecting help for our cause for a while now. Oghren has been a tremendous help, and my team and I would have perished in the Deep Roads without his guidance." She smiled at him, who looked flabbergasted. "He sacrificed a lot to get where he is now, and he even saved my life when I was in danger and could do nothing. He is an honourable fellow when the time is right."

The two dwarves were silent for a moment. Felsi cast a surprised look at Oghren, who coughed and straightened his back. "Ah well. Looks like I gotta go, Fels. Darkspawn won't kill themselves."

"W-wait, you're leaving?" Felsi asked, making it clear she didn't want him to go yet. "You could stay for a bit. I haven't called you any names yet! You could call me a surely bronto."

Oghren grinned. "I tell ya what, I gotta go save the world and whatnot, but once that's done, I'll take you up on all that."

Felsi smiled. It was a nice smile, Veira thought. "Fine. But you better not keep me waiting."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

When they shut the inn door behind them, Oghren did a little dance. He tried giving a light, friendly punch, but his 'light' punches were still strong.

"Ow."

"Haha! I knew your fancy words would come in handy! Thanks, warden. You're the best."

"Oh. You're welcome," Veira smiled, "but...you could go back in there. We're not going anywhere yet."

Oghren laughed. "Don't you know anything about women? You gotta give 'em something to wait for."

As Oghren was walking back to the boat, a flustered Veira followed. "I know plenty about women, thank you!"


That night the only one available for a spar was Shale. They had been rather quiet this entire time, even when Veira tried to talk to them. She completely understood why. Shale's entire history was turned up on itself and it was nothing that Shale could have imagined. They were once a dwarf. They volunteered to become a golem. They had a home, a clan, a family once. She couldn't imagine how that would feel.

"Is it sure it wants to spar with me? I am known for crushing."

Veira nodded. "It would be good for me to try fighting something difficult."

Shale barked a laugh. "Ah, so no one else was a challenge for it? Fitting."

Veira did however cast her rock armour. Shale would reduce her to a puddle without.

Veira dodged the first few punches, deflecting some with magic. Shale was clearly holding back, and that was fine. It was still good practice. And it was a relief that Shale cared enough to go easy on her. Still, Veira stumbled a few times, but that was good practice too. If she never fell, she wouldn't know how to get back up in battle.

"I assume we are leaving soon."

Veira deflected another punch with her armour. "Yes. In a few days."

Shale raised their fists and brought them to the floor, splitting the tile apart and sending shards of stone towards her. Veira instantly extended a hand and shot frigid air at the shards, freezing them and stopping their trajectory. Sweat poured down her forehead, her limit almost reached. As she breathed hard, Shale paused for a moment, staring at the broken floor. "I have been thinking. Of everything. I have been trying to remember."

Veira nodded again, slowly, trying to catch her breath. "And did you?"

"I think I know where I once lived...it is vague but I think I could find it if we returned to the Deep Roads."

She smiled. "I already promised you that we'd try to find some clue of your origin. I keep my promises."

"Thank you," Shale said slowly, "I did not expect it to after its injury." They paused for a moment, eyes flickering. "I have a question. Why did it side with Caridin? Our mission was for the dwarf Branka, yet it decided to defy her. It had no guarantee that Caridin would help with the election."

"Heh, well I did announce rather quietly that I wouldn't let the Anvil enslave anyone," Veira chuckled, then turned more serious. "But...you're right, I didn't. But I trust you, and you trusted him. I didn't want to let you down."

Shale stared at her with bright eyes, brow raised in surprise. "I...I did not know that was the reason. Thank you. Truly."

There was a long pause where Shale did not know what more to say, while Veira just grinned at them. Then Shale scoffed. "Oh. Enough of this mushy garbage. Let us pulverize each other!"

And when they were finished, Veira walked out with Shale, leaning on their massive arm for support, covered in bruises. They were both laughing at the poor mages who had to clean up after them.


The next few days passed without incident. Veira finished packing up her things, putting a heavy cloak on her shoulders. She looked down at her feet, smiling to herself that the aura was concentrated underneath her feet, and could not be seen unless she took off her shoes and leggings. She took her new staff and kept the end on the floor. It did make an excellent walking stick.

Irving saw them off with one last hug for Veira. And when she stepped onto the path that led away from the Circle, she was truly back into the war. The way back was going to be similar to the first time, they would walk during the day and Shale would pull them in the cart at night. It might even go faster now that the snow was starting to melt.

Even with her healing and walking staff, Veira still could not last as long as the rest. A few days passed as they travelled, and Veira kept her silent frustration. Her dreams too were changed. Now she barely saw darkspawn in the Deep Roads, but she saw flickers of a dragon on the surface, too vague to know exactly where it was. That terrified her more.

And they did not avoid confrontation. In a rather slippery area, dense with cliff sides and trees, they came across a large group of people surrounding one man. The man was in expensive clothes, though it looked like the clothing had seen better days. The people surrounding him seemed aggressive, but they were too far away to hear what they were saying.

Wynne peered at the man closer. "Wait..." she whispered, "I recognize him. He...he was at Ostagar."

Veira's eyes widened. "What?"

"He is...Elric Maraigne. One of Cailan's royal guard. I thought...I thought they all died."

How he managed to survive Ostagar while protecting Cailain who perished...now that was a mystery indeed. The survivors of Ostagar were dragged underground by the darkspawn, as Morrigan had told her.

"And those men..." Wynne whispered, "they are wearing Bann Loren's guard armour."

So they weren't bandits. They were potential allies in the days to come, if the Landsmeet goes well. Her heart leap into her throat as suddenly one of the soldiers took out his sword and stabbed Elric through his chest. With their job done, the soldiers cleared out quickly, leaving Elric to bleed to death.

As soon as they were able, Veira and Wynne sped to Elric's side, wrapping their hands in healing magic and placing them on Elrics chest. It was bad. Veira doubted they could save him, there was severe damage to his heart. His eyes did open however, gazing at the two healers. "I..." he gurgled, "I know you."

"Try not to speak-" Wynne said quickly.

"No, no," Elric coughed, "listen. You...you were both at Ostagar. Cailan was my friend. My king. And I abandoned him. I ran-ran from the battle when Loghain left."

"You deserted?" Veira asked, not letting her spell up.

Elric nodded heavily. There was blood running down his chin. "Cailan had entrusted me with...with a key. That unlocked a chest containing important documents for Orlais. You are a Grey...Warden. Those documents...they could...help." Elric coughed again, and there was more liquid in his throat now. "And Cailan's armour and sword. They are too...powerful, too valuable to be pawed at by the darkspawn."

His eyes began to fade. Veira sighed and let her spell dissipate, as Wynne did the same thing. But then suddenly Elric grabbed Veira's arm, with a surprising amount of strength. Tears were running down his face. "Cailan knew...for all his bravado he knew that battle was always going to end the way that it did. Even if Loghain hadn't retreated...he knew it would always result in that loss."

Veira went cold as she stared at him, suddenly glad Alistair wasn't with them. If that were true...then Maker...

"I don't...I don't have the key. But I left it buried...near the mages area...beside the wall..." His eyes closed. "If you find...his body...put it to rest...please..."

With one last breath, Elric's head slumped to the side.

It was decided that Wynne and Veira would go clean up by small pool of water below while the rest buried Elric. Ice cold water made Veira shiver as she quickly scrubbed at her bloody hands, her jaw tight. "What do you think," she asked Wynne, "should we go?"

Wynne sighed. "I feel that I left unfinished business there."

"I do too but...Loghain must have put through some way to block Orlesian aid. I don't know if sending that correspondence would help."

Wynne started to dry her hands on her robe. "Perhaps we should go for our own sakes. Not the war. Nothing else."

Veira shot her a surprised glance. For as long as she knew her, Wynne had always been practical, always advising that your actions should benefit more than yourself. "That is a surprise...coming from you."

"Yes. It is not what I usually preach, is it?" She sighed. "I simply wish no more regrets. And if we do not at least try to right the wrong in Ostagar...that may become another one of mine."

"Another?" Veira asked.

Wynne paused for a moment, her expression taking away the vitality and strength she usually had in her posture. "I have one regret. Only because it had dire consequences for someone else, rather than myself. When I first became able to mentor, I was assigned an elven lad named Aneirin. He came from Denerim, the Alienage. Much like yourself."

That wasn't a named she recognized, though she was only seven when she left. Though Veira suspected this happened long before she was even born.

"What Aneirin needed was time. He needed time to get used to his new home, time to adjust to everything." She closed her eyes, brow furrowing in pain. "And I gave him no such time."

"That doesn't sound like you."

"I was much younger then. I was much more brash and impatient. 'He is a mage,' I thought, 'he needs to grow up and act like one.' He tried so many times to talk to me, and I only told him to concentrate on his spells."

Veira had been so lucky. At first, she had a brief mentor that was elven, so she had a much better understanding of that situation and how to handle it. And when Irving became her mentor, he was kind and patient and listened to every concern that Veira had. She couldn't imagine what it felt like in Aneirin's shoes. "What happened to him?"

Wynne swallowed a lump in her throat. "Aneirin ran away from the Circle one night. I had berated him over something trivial that I no longer remember what it was. And so the templars were sent to hunt him down. He was branded a maelificar, a danger to us and the world. He was a child."

"I begged the templars to tell me if he suffered. I got no answers from them. I was his mentor...and they wouldn't even tell me how it ended." Wynne quickly wiped a tear from her eye. "I failed Aneirin. All I had to do was listen. I had the best mentors, why didn't I learn from them?"

"Maybe...maybe he didn't die. He could have escaped."

"The templars are thorough. I think it is a vain hope to wish that he lived."

"Did he have a goal? Somewhere that he would have tried to find?"

Wynne paused for a moment in thought. "He talked of the Dalish often. Always saying he wished to find the Dalish elves."

Veira began drying her hands. They shook slightly. She by no means met every single Dalish, and they could easily ask around the next time they saw them. He may have even joined a different clan, one far away. That was a hope she could cling to. "Maybe he did find them."

Wynne sighed sadly. "Perhaps. But my original point was that Ostagar is important enough to go back, even just for closure. I hope you intend to bring Alistair along with you."

Veira nodded. "Of course. Then, we will go."

There was another mission close by to Ostagar as well. One probably more dangerous than clearing out the ruins.

They reached Orzammar a week later, and there was much more bustle from the guards, the merchants, and weapon makers. No more was there a pressure of a lost king, and they could focus on what was needed to be focused on; the Blight. The Royal palace was particularly busy, with messengers, members of the army, all mixed with regular townsfolk waiting their turn to speak with the king.

They found Alistair and Sten in the war room, hovering over a dozen maps and speaking to Kardol. The moment Alistair saw her he beamed, rushing over to her to wrap her in a big hug. "Maker's Breath is it good to see you!" he laughed, "and seeing you stand!" He then held her at arms length, looking at her confused. "You're much warmer than I remember."

"It's the magic," Veira laughed. "Looks like I'll be much warmer forever."

Sten stood beside her and put an arm on her shoulder. "It is good to see you, kadan."

Veira squeezed his hand. "I hope all went well here?"

Sten glanced at Alistair briefly. "Surprisingly."

"Good," Veira smiled at her companions that she missed so dearly, eager to find Morrigan and Leliana again as well. "I hope you are ready to go back to the Deep Roads. We have something to see there."

It was somewhat entertaining to see Alistair's face fall into a groan, while Sten's marginally changed from a hard stare to a hard stare with a hint of his famous "no" face. "Now, now, don't give that look. This is for Shale."

Shale chuckled. "No, no, do continue to be crushed because of me. Nothing gives me more joy."

Ah. Veira watched her companions joke with each other, laugh with each other. This she missed. She was finally starting to feel complete again. She could feel Valour's aura flicker stronger with that thought, making Veira smile even more throughout the rest of the evening.