Magic and the Inquistion

by Battleship Vytalia

Finding himself in a fucked up fantasy word, a wizard has to find a way to get back to his own universe. All that stands in his way, are demons, a mage-templar war, a great big fucking hole in the sky, a civil war in knockoff France, a female elf mage who finds him fascinating, and an ancient human mage who is in severe need of a makeover

31. Chapter 31 The Battle of Adamant

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Dragonage or anything else I may reference

Magic and the Inquisition

Chapter 31 The Battle of Adamant

The blowing of horns marked the entrance of the Forces of the Inquisition, in a thin line, they marched, soldiers dressed in bright scarlet red marked against the mid-afternoon sun. Quickly they marched in their lines, moving over the long since abandoned dessert doing their best to avoid the harsh glare and heat that radiated far above from the sun as they traversed this dangerous land to where they could see their camp was located. Only a few minutes away, the grim faces of men became far brighter as they saw the destination come to an end as they saw the small flaps of a white tent blowing in the wind. Set upon an incline and surrounded on three sides by rock, the place would be made easily defendable from a quick onslaught or raid that could come should the enemy choose so.

Glancing up from his horse, Nat who had previously ridden beside with his men ready to intercept any attack with his magic quickly rode to the front of the line leaving the Inquisitor behind him and into the remains of the small scout camp where he saw the two individuals he needed to speak to.

"Hawke, Stroud" He greeted them as he brought his horse to a stop and swiftly dismounted and joined the two of them.

"Tempest," Stroud said returning the greeting before then blinking somewhat in surprise that he was on his own. "Where is the Inquisitor?"

"She'll be along shortly, I rode ahead to get things organised. Now tell me what do we face?" With a slight gesture, Stroud nodded and led Nat forwards away from the camp leading him up the end of the incline to where they then stood upon a craggy surface. From here Nat could see much, from the seemingly endless desert punctuated only by the old stone here and there, to the slowly darkening sky. Despite this, however, his attention was focused instantly on the main subject of interest in the area, Adamant fortress.

It was a large fortress easily bigger than the vast majority of castles back home that were not created and owned by wizards, simple in its design the fortress roughly resembled a rectangle in nature, there was a main keep in the centre that hid behind a good amount of wall on either side that was no doubt home to the barracks of the fortress. There was nothing fancy about the fortress, but that was because it was built as a defensive building and not some vanity project, not overly tremendous tall walls, but high enough to give a certain amount of security to its defenders. As for the insides, he could already tell from this distance that the mage had already returned home as men and women were working as swiftly as possible carrying stone and fixing it in place to rebuild the weak walls of the fortress. He glanced at Stroud and then spoke.

"What's the situation of the fortress?"

"The Wardens have garrisoned it as best they can but Adamant is old and it had been abandoned until only recently, even then there was not much thought placed into rebuilding what had broken due to a lack of care. However that does not mean the castle will be easy to take, this place was made for the Wardens it was designed to take on the forces of Darkspawn and how their tactics usually apply, the walls may be weak, but there are enough of them to trap any besieging army and fill them with arrows, also their pantry will be large and designed to resist Darkspawn. Should that fail however, they will no doubt retreat across the bridge to what remains of the citadel where they will wait for reinforcements.

Glancing at the ruined remains of Adamant, Nat could see that the man was right, the walls of the old fortress was crumbling in some places and others there were cracks and stone that had fallen and nobody had bothered to rebuild. Then without saying anything he quickly retrieved his binoculars and searched the fortress as carefully as he could while trying to stay hidden.

"Do they know we're here" Hawke nodded reluctantly.

"One of your scouts got ambushed and was brought back, even if they don't know the size and strength of your force, they likely know that you will be attacking soon".

"And the ritual?" Hawke scowled menacingly in the direction of where Nat could see a large congregation of Wardens, they were in a plaza surrounding what appeared to be a rift only significantly larger and far brighter than usual.

"From what we can gather, it will take another day or so before it is complete" Stroud answered swiftly following the wizards gaze as he used that strange thing in front of his eyes and kept a careful eye on the giant pulsing light of the Rift, occasionally as they did so they watched as it convulsed for a moment, then glowing brighter before with a green spark of lightning a demon shot out and emerged into the world.

"Good, that gives the men time to rest and prepare"

"Rest" Hawke turned and advanced on the wizard. "We need to stop this ritual now before it becomes too late".

"We can't" Nat replied casually as he then began counting the number of individuals inside. We just quick marched them from Skyhold. They're exhausted, throw them into battle and they will fold like wet paper, we will be repulsed and the ritual complete. Besides look at the weather" Nat said glancing up above them. The once bright sky that they had all marched under was vanishing as the sun began to creep over the horizon allowing for the once brilliant and warm day to gradually begin too cool down. "Its mid-afternoon, even if we were only to give the men a short rest by the time they would attack it would be dark and the men would be freezing not to mention that the defenders would then gain another advantage."

"The men are your's commander, what are your orders" Nat turned towards Stroud hiding his surprise at the term used. Commander was an official military one, not the highest like general but all the same, it was one that commanded respect and dignity, it wasn't something he had ever been called. He shook his head and then collected his thoughts; this was no time to think about other subjects.

"We'll attack in the early morning, as dawn breaks that should give us enough light for Artillery and minimise the weather conditions. It should also give the men enough time to recover their strength if we can get the camp up in the next hour or so to give them an early night" Stroud nodded, then with another gesture he directed Nat back to the small camp they made.

"Where is that handsome man, the one who styles his hair, I thought he would be here," Hawke said curiously as they began to watch the chaos of a camp set up unfold. It truly was hectic, men having been given a short amount of rest were already racing ahead in their respective duties, some were assigned to the duty of putting up the tents and forming a neat row as their respective teams got to work, others unloaded large wooden palisades that had already been cut and began to wedge them into the sandy ground thus creating the beginnings of a defensive encampment that would prevent any enemy force from simply charging them in the middle of the night or to stop spies from entering.

"We received word of a growing Templar force in East Ferelden, whether it is true or not we don't know, but Commander Cullen was sent with the rest of our force to investigate and if required battle the foe. For all, we know Adamant could merely be a distraction to enable Corypheus to attack Denerim."

"Or it could be another distraction as he reinforces Adamant and strikes your forces from behind," Stroud added in a concerned manner. Nat nodded in agreement gently stroking the hilt of his sword as he led them past the brightly coloured soldiers as they continued to do their best towards where he knew the Artillery would be setting up. He had stationed them in the middle of the convoy thus protecting them if some force did try to attack them making it easier for the bulk of the infantry to reinforce.

"It's a risk we'll have to take Stroud, but as I'm sure you can guess, with Cullen gone that leaves me in command of the local forces, the Inquisitor is in charge but it's my plan"

"Very well, I assume we shall have a meeting sometime later?" Nat nodded at the man than with a quick farewell he left the group to meet the Artillery.

"Does everybody understand the plan?" Nat asked firmly as he locked gazes with all those in front of him. The commanders, captains and those other vital ranks that made up his regiment returned his gaze for a moment as they glanced back from the large map that sat in front of them. Currently, they were all situated at a large circular wooden table as they sat within the confines of their commander's tent listening aptly to whatever their commander had to say. When after an acceptable time had passed for any of the commanders to respond and give their word about the plan that had been presented before they had passed, Nat nodded his head and then took in another breath before carrying on.

"I know you have doubts gentlemen, this is an untested regiment with an untested commander and untested weapons, I know you do not think highly of me given how I gained my position and that is a fair enough assumption I won't judge." At his words, a few of the commanders turned their gazes away leaving the others to only watch the young boy closely as he spoke to them, yet anyone who could read the room could tell there was something off. Nat's usually calm voice had changed to a far firmer tone one that needed to batter points into position and ensure that all those present knew just who was in command and that a refusal to accept such a thing would very likely end poorly. "This is the first true battle of the war, the first time we shall show our skills. I expect the enemy to crack before us, I expect for you commanders to perform your duty and to help me achieve this goal, In return I expect you to ensure that I am a good commander, that I lead this engagement well. Now I'm not one for speeches and time is growing thin; as I said before I want all those who are not on watch to sleep as early as possible, you will require your strength. Also, I have hidden the barrels of ale" There was some uproar at this as well as angry shouts however before it could become far worse Nat quietened the group with a flick of his wand, shutting the entire group up. "I will not have my regiment drunk and disorderly or complaining of headaches when we wake up tomorrow, remember we don't just face a bunch of Wardens, we also face demons one wrong move because of sluggish reactions or a blistering headache and you're dead. Or in the case of Artillery, everyone but them is dead. So if there's nothing left to say, this meeting is over goodnight and I wish you well in the morning"

With the meeting now complete the officers giving a quick and polite farewell rose from their seats in a fast manner gave a respectful bow or gesture to their commander and then left the tent leaving only a few people left inside.

"Well, that went well" Valeyna yawned leaning back and stretching her arms out as wide as he could. "Good meeting"

"Blackwall, Bull you've both served as commanders, what did you think, be honest?" Smirking Bull nodded as he took another glance of the map of Adamant. It was surprisingly detailed, they knew what the layout of the entire castle and how it could be used, every kill zone, defensible location and other area had been marked and spoken off including what to do if one got caught or stuck in such a place.

"Not bad" Nat raised an eyebrow causing the man to sigh and smile in a friendly way before the telling the truth. "Honestly the plan is solid for the most part, my only problem is the length, you spent so much time discussing every single area that this meeting took twice as long as possible. And there's also the Artillery, the men aren't stupid they've been training together for months now and even if they hadn't seen what the things can do, they've all served in countless battles before and know how catapults work, they can extrapolate, there's nothing to go over."

"Anything else?" Nat inquired.

"Yes, Are you still sure it's a good idea to be sending the men in without any proper weapons"

"The men have bayonets" Nat answered honestly but he knew what Blackwall was going on about, black powder and bullets were brilliant when they worked, they could easily tear through the armour that the enemy had and still cause incredible damage to a humans insides, no doubt the Wardens would be surprised when they faced them, but at close range, it was an entirely different manner. The bayonets were simply a short sword that could be put on the end of a musket, it was nothing special, certainly not for fighting anybody as skilled as Wardens.

"Too short and without the penetration, if the enemy gets to your muskets their dead not to mention how is your artillery going to support your troops past the initial breakthrough, You'll have groups of men all at different points and all will want covering fire. How is the artillery to know what targets to fire at"

"They won't" Nat admitted honestly. "It's too dangerous without enough experience, that's why they're assigned to smashing the walls and enemy strong points. Once we pass through the gates the cannon will give a few more shots before then targeting the next set of gates and then the final, once that is done they are finished. Besides, they don't have that much shot anyway"

"Very well, if you are so sure of your tactics," Blackwall said dubiously his attention focused on the other members of the Inquisition present as they looked at the map each of them mentally working things out for themselves such as the most effective past.

"The cannon will break the walls, I can assure you. After that, I have given orders for the Artillery to target the main plaza after finishing their main objectives" Eyes flew open at that announcement focusing on the commander in charge as they wondered just what would require such a thing. "

"Why," Valeyna asked cautiously.

"In the case that we fail, for whatever reason, that is, I have ordered the Artillery to destroy that square if needed, whether it kills us or the enemy. Besides you've felt it haven't you, that host that they seem to be bringing in, if this is where Corypheus gets his army to conquer Thedas, then perhaps the artillery may be able to buy some time for any retreating forces or take out whatever comes through"

"You fear whatever is coming from that thing that much, that's absurd we have men, cavalry, artillery" Valeyna responded, harshly she thrust her left finger to the map, on it were little toy soldiers or that was how it appeared to her, some were in the shape of the musket men dressed in their brilliant red coats that were near impossible to miss, others such as the rifles were in a velvet green and stationed right outside the castle walls, father back from this, was the cannon who were stationed behind a ridge allowing them to fire upon the enemy and not take anything back should the enemy have hidden trebuchets or magic in their arsenal. Away from the main group were the cavalry whose job was to mainly keep a lookout for anything but also in sight of one another. If something killed one scout the other would see and give warning.

"Fear no, but that's exactly what is coming from the place, an excess amount of fear, already it's started to affect some of the men, apparently some of them are seeing spiders"

"That does sound like fear demons, no doubt they are feeding of the Wardens fears of a future blight" Stroud interjected from his side of the table. "We will need to finish this as soon as possible the longer we delay the more demons will cross the threshold"

"And also give Corypheus time to surround us with an army" Hawke added "Are you sure we can't attack any sooner" Nat shook his head it was too late to attack now, night had already fallen upon the camp and it was surprisingly quiet though that was likely because the men had likely appreciated the offer of an early dinner then sleep, only a few were left awake and even then they were huddled up next to one another desperate to get whatever warmth they could in the dessert.

"Dawn is not long away when it does it shall be to the rolling thunder of cannon, Adamant falls tomorrow one way or another, so I ask that unless you have anything more to add that you get some sleep, you shall need it" With nothing left to say there were nods from the remaining group were like the commanders before them they gave a quick goodbye and left the tent one by one until it left Nat and the Inquisitor alone. Finally, after a few minutes left alone in silence, Valeyna finally spoke.

"Are you okay?" She said gently her eyes focused on the stern look on Nat's face, even now as he tried to keep his attention on her out of politeness, he was not able to fight the urge to look back at his plans and soon enough his visual attention was directed purely onto the maps. Valeyna sighed loudly, getting out of her seat she walked over to him and laid a hand on the rest of his chair.

"The plan should work, everybody has been briefed on their positions, the artillery knows what to do and the defences have been scouted and weak points made aware to everybody. This should go well."

"That's not what I asked"

"I'm perfectly fine Inquisitor, I know what needs to be done and I have taken the steps to achieve it, by this time tomorrow Adamant will have fallen and this ritual stopped in its tracks" Valeyna froze releasing an angry almost angry growl out of her throat before suddenly without warning she slammed her fist onto the table and pushed herself forward directly in front of his gaze preventing him from glancing at the map.

"Don't ignore the question and stop calling me Inquisitor, my name is Valeyna, you can use it for bloody once" Valeyna demanded angrily her eyes starting to glow with rage. Nat sighed and looked into the eyes of the woman his own dull violet ones hidden by his shades piercing into the bright sapphire ones of the woman; he could lie, but there was no point she would not leave without an answer. With another sigh, he gently called over his floating cup of tea and began to take a long deep sip when he was finished he allowed the cup to hover in the air to his side.

"No, I'm not. The truth is I have no idea if this plan will work" Seeing the Inquisitor's shock he continued. "I'm not Cullen or Blackwall or Bull, I have no command experience that relates to strategy, I have never commanded an army or a force or anything like that. Yet despite that, I'm in charge of this entire operation I'm the one who has to think of the strategy, how men will work together when to plan the attack?" He laughed suddenly his attention turning away from the Inquisitor as he then stood up from his desk and walked towards the entrance of the tent in silence. Silently Valeyna followed her feet treading on the soft carpet that made up the floor when she stopped next to him; Nat then pulled open the entrance to the tent partially allowing them to see what lay outside.

Night had fallen upon them entirely by now leaving only the bright glare of torchlight as hundreds of flames flickered in place the occasional soft breeze of the dessert making them dance in one way or another, casting dark shadows of people and tents giving off the impression of some sort of monstrous creatures on the canvas of multiple tents. Nat stilled his hand gently and took in another deep breath as his gaze flickered to each individual he could see. Not many were out, only a few stragglers, it seemed that most had taken his warning of their attack in the early morning seriously thankfully, but there were some awake and no doubt they would suffer if they were not part of those who kept watch.

"It's an impressive sight" Valeyna sighed feeling as the weariness of their long journey set its claws into her, already she could tell she was not going to sleep well tonight. "All those banners that were on the road, it's the type of things from stories back when I was a girl".

"Perhaps," Nat said his eyes fluttering constantly from the rows of tents, they waved back and forth in the wind making a loud flapping sound that echoed in the distance, occasionally the sound of a horse whinnying broke the monotony and sometimes it was the wind as it instead howled louder, circling above them like some kind of great beast determining its prey, waiting for the dawn before it would strike. Valeyna sighed at the reaction then without thinking she moved her left arm around her friend and pulled him towards her forcing his body upon hers for a moment. Nat glared for a moment but he didn't try to pull away, instead, he simply allowed himself to take a small amount of comfort in the woman's touch.

"So, tomorrow is the day, you're first command position. Excited?" Nat's heart burned at the mention, it was true this was his first real command position, the first time he would be leading a force of men and women into battle, no he stopped he would be leading his men and women into battle for that was who they were, the men and women of his regiment. His eyes wandered through the sky at the thought finally landing onto the familiar banner of his home, the red white and blue of the union flag, was flying once more above a camp of war, far from home and on the verge of death and destruction.

He gulped and felt another rush of guilt strike his heart. Did he even hold the authority to use the flag, true it was not he who had commissioned that flag but rather Cullen who had stated clearly that it should be used to represent him as the last of his people even if that was a lie? He was not the last and neither was he in the position of others from his country who had carried that standard into war for he was not a soldier in his countries military whether magical or muggle, nor was he a freedom fighter fighting against a corrupt government and thus fighting for his country, he was fighting for his country or so he liked to believe, but without contact with either Parliaments how could he know that his actions were justified and that he was not some kind of tyrant hell-bent on power and doing whatever he so desired in the world.

He was just a lone wizard, far from home.

"I shouldn't be commander" His voice dropped low, Valeyna shook her head but turned at hearing the self-doubt in his voice, when she did she saw something she had never seen before. Worry, panic, fear even, all of it was clear as day and all of it was prevalent on his face. Valeyna blinked dazed at the sight of the normal stalwart defender, the boy who had shown himself to be so vicious so, concerned as though this was his true form.

"What do you mean?"

"I hold no strategic experience, not to mention I have never led men into battle, all this" He waved back at the map where the map lay firm. "Applying theory to practical with no experience, I have no idea if it will work"

"It will, I know it will," Valeyna said soothingly but it did not alleviate the concern on his face nor the way that his feet seemed to tap repeatedly on the ground, nor even as his finger started to quake even as they rested upon the hilt of his sword.

"How?" Nat asked no pleaded. "How can you be so sure, I'm not even a novice? The last time I did lead people, I got them..." He froze his face turning paler then chalk as he remembered their dying faces, they had been wracked in so much pain their once vibrant and healthy skin had turned into a horrid depressing grey as black veins and tendrils wormed themselves into their skin as their exuberant eyes became glassy and deformed. He remembered their last moments as their pain became so unbearable yet their bodies so weak they could do nothing not even walk. It had been him who had killed them, him on his stupid orders driven by arrogance in his powers, powers that he dare not even use in his fear that had stolen their lives. It could have been so easy, he had a choice when he escaped the Architect, to confront a threat of an old god, head on perhaps even dying in the process to buy time, or instead save his subordinates from the gruesome death that had awaited in them in those dark and treacherous tunnels far beneath the ground. He remembered starkly how even after he had recovered them how they had then died because he had been idle, lost in his seemingly non-existent moral compass too concerned with himself that he had allowed them to die in his indifference.

"I got them killed, and it's my fault" He admitted. "I should have been there, I could have saved them but I didn't. And now here I am, not only do I have lives that rely upon my judgment, my decisions, but several thousand lives." He turned is walk emphasised by a slow and sluggish walk until eventually, he approached his bed allowing himself to collapse only when Valeyna sunk next to him and once again wrapped him in a hug did he continue. "They're going to die tomorrow" He whispered.

"Relax" Valeyna repeated the quote holding him tightly ignoring how her own heart seemed to beat faster as for the first time in memory he seemed comfortable with her, so much so that without him knowing he had laid his head on her shoulder and had pulled into his closer basking in her embrace.

"I'm sending men to their deaths"

"You've killed before, it will be fine." It was a harsh thing to say Valeyna knew, but seeing him like this, so scared, so concerned, so vulnerable especially as he was lost in a cloud of his thoughts sinking deeper and deeper into the bottom of his despair, she knew she had to stop him.

Nat wanted to complain, tell her how it was different to just killing a person. These were not men who had done him harm, nor were they men he was sacrificing for some greater goal that he knew were needed. These were people, living breathing people, with emotions, love, fear, hatred and everything else, a lot of them were boys, older than him for the most part but still considered children back home, and he was going to send them to their deaths. He shivered at the thought, was this what it felt like to be a leader? to be the one who had to make those hard choices?

He had always looked down on those Gryffindor's, always so brash so quick to anger, always rushing into danger at the first sight of trouble without a plan and little other thought, those boys and girls of red and gold were always hilarious and easy to mock. What was courage against technology, chivalry against an assassin, logic and cunning would easily best they're so-called ferociousness, their blind spirit was nothing, something to be exploited by better and wiser minds. Yet now as he felt the cloak of darkness wrap around him, as the stars still up there uncovered for all to see and wonder at slowly moved at speed incomprehensible, many of whom were likely dead, giving off their last huzzah before they were gone, their light extinguished did he think he understand, even if only partly?

How could there be technology if there were not those willing to brave the future, which was willing to risk everything without any degree of certainty, instead only guessing at things that were to come if they did not charge? How could Potter have defeated Voldermort in the last war as well as the resistance of so many more who even when defeated carried on the fight regardless of the scenario even when their saviour was dead giving forth that time needed to win. How could the Inquisition expect to win in this war against Corypheus if the common man, those who waited out there in the valley with him without the raw magic at his disposal or the trained skill of Blackwall or the mighty mass and might of Bull did not still volunteer and risk everything they had for what they believed in.

What did that make him, with his power he could storm the fortress slay the normal wardens and likely contend with the mage wardens for a long enough time to distract the mage wardens for the others to kill. Even with that power he had improved it even father, refusing to march to war without every advantage, he could muster. There was a tactical advantage to it, but he also knew there was a fear, a fear that his power on its own was enough, that it would never be enough, that those men who would charge and fight with less were nothing more than future casualties all of whom would die.

What was he?

A coward

If that was how the men saw him, it made sense why they seemed reluctant to speak, why even when he was the one giving them every advantage in the upcoming conflict that they were concerned, he simply wasn't a leader.

"Should I leave?" He asked her hoping for a clear answer, perhaps it was best if this was led to those better qualified like that of the Inquisitor.

"No, I'll stay, however long you need me" Nat nodded and so as time passed by he sat there his eyes only ever darting backwards to the strategy on the table occasionally as he sat in thought until without him noticing he closed his eyes and was laid asleep in bed as the Inquisitor gently stroked his chin offering a smile before leaving.

Come the dawn, war would be made and he would need his strength.

The next day

It was to the final sounds of preparation war that Nat was met with when he returned to the camp. No longer dressed in his typical black and foreign clothing that made him so easy to spot amongst those of the Inquisition giving him a look of distance, instead, he was now dressed entirely different so much so that he quickly strode across the sand road that marked the centre of the camp that none of the soldiers, still in the busy scramble as they ate breakfast and dressed themselves recognised him. Now garbed in a bright scarlet red more colourful than any shade of blood he cut an elegant yet highly dangerous figure, his every step punctuated with a deadly nobility, his sabre girded at his hip shimmered as the first rays of the sun crept over the dunes and struck the silvery metal blinding those few scavenger birds who had followed the army. With his two flintlock pistols kept in the holsters on either waist and his even darker black trousers and older boots that contrasted greatly with his red overcoat and the large black hat that sat on his feather adorned with only a golden trim at the end, he had became the commander of the forces of the Inquisition, recognisable at a distance as somebody to be respected and feared.

Approaching the top of the hill, he ignored the astounded looks of Hawke and Stroud as they blinked at first not recognising him, and instead focusing on the already awake Varric who was buzzing as his admiring gaze fell upon him with a discerning smile. Finally, after taking in his new garb the dwarf smirked.

"Wow you look, great kid, where you get the clothes, steal them off a noble"

"Hardly, these are just my officer clothes; if I am to lead the armies of the Inquisition then I should look appropriate"

"That you do" Varric whistled appreciatively as he looked at the uniform that he wore. It was odd at first to see him in something that wasn't black, but the clothes he wore now were something else entirely, finely crafted and decorated with things like golden laurels and patterns each of which served to emphasise not only the bright red of the uniform made him seriously think that were it not for the familiar black things covering his eyes, the smaller stature due to his age and the long blonde hair then he might have believed that he was talking to a noble.

"Varric," Blackwall said hearing the conversation where he then walked up in his heavier armour for the battle ahead. "Is that you kid?" Nat nodded once yet it was done with so much poise and grace that Blackwall was impressed for a moment. "Looks good on you, anyway are we ready to go?" The man said impatiently.

"Almost" Nat replied with an air of nobility. "We are offering the enemy one last chance of surrender before it begins. As doubtful as it is, I would prefer to stop a massacre from occurring. Look here they come" Nat said as he gestured to the figure of the Inquisitor as she rode back to them mounted atop her horse and followed by several members of cavalry one of whom was carrying his banner that now began to wave more frequently as the sun and wind began to pick up more frequently. "Well, what is their response?" Nat asked the moment Valeyna got off her horse catching her off guard at his change in appearance.

"Nat?" Her shocked tone echoed at his appearance, she rubbed her eyes not believing what she was seeing for a moment but after doing so she could only feel a stirring sensation. Nat, even with the enchantments to hide his true features was very handsome in that uniform. She blushed briefly then reported back.

"They will not surrender"

"Then we attack, very well. Artillery" His voice became an echoing roar so loud that Bull not expecting the sudden loudness clutched his ears to his head as the loud bellows shot forth alerting all those both in the camp and those on the castle walls to his warning alerting all that in the span of only a few seconds the siege would begin and so would the number of dead. "Give Fire"

With that order, hell was unleashed.

Thunderous roars bellowed through the previously silent valley the sound do death and gunpowder had been unleashed as in that moment the cannon sat upon its ridge unloaded its payload with the fury of the Inquisition each spewing forth a ball of iron short from its gullet. Wreathed in flame as the flame hit the black powder giving forth the energy needed to explode the shot tore its way through the sky whistling an angry scream before then slamming with a cacophony of force into the front walls of Adamant. Crashing upon its target the old walls of Adamant stood no chance as the metal eviscerated its old structure, the sheer force breaking the mortar and stone, obliterating against the stonework with such raw force that it sent sharp stone splinter s hurling into the air and impaling those too unfortunate to be met nearby. The walls shook from the force exerted and for a moment, they managed to hold together but it was only for a moment as seconds later the sounds of tearing and grinding stone was heard before an entire section of wall crumbled with another thunderous roar to the ground taking wardens with them. Upon the battlements screams of anguish echoed out as men who were not taken down from the initial blast or wall falling down froze still in their positions their faces hidden behind their helmets but still ones of fear as they now gazed at the large hole from where there had once been a wall. Screaming and shouting soon took their attention s they then turned their gaze behind them as a second later the sound of a second thunderous roar as cannonball shook and blasted against wall was made apparent as wardens flew un pinto the air on the wall behind them. There was no time to rest as in the next second a ball that had been aimed too high smashed through the skull the helmeted skull of one unlucky warden instantly pulverising the entire skull into something smaller then paste leaving the corpse to fall flat to the ground where a second later another scream of anguish was heard as that cannonball slammed into a building and destroyed its foundation tearing it down on those nearby killing them instantly.

"Maker's Mercy" Blackwall's tone dropped to one of pure horror as he stared at the devastation in front of him, only one volley had been fired so far, but already the weak walls of the castle had been entirely decimated in place collapsing under its defenders crushing them alive, in other places where the wall was stronger the wall had not yet been destroyed but the racks and damage was so grand that it would simply take another volley to deal with where in other places where the wall had been so weak, he could track a trail of devastation from where it had punched a thin hole in the wall and wrecked a row of houses. Smoke and ash drifted up from the castle into the castle and the small grey dots that shimmered in the morning's lights stopped their action's to stare, but it was too late for in the next moment an even more terrifying sound was launched.

With the sound of a hundred screaming banshees, all attention suddenly locked onto the fast-moving seemingly shrill scream as a large number of fast-moving rockets sped upwards into the air leaving a thin trail of smoke behind them as they went onwards, soaring ever higher until suddenly that trajectory declined and then fell towards the planet once more. As they gave a horrid screech, the defenders on the walls, the legendary Grey Wardens, famed for their courage in that they would take on any foe but more specifically the endless hordes of Darkspawn ran. Quickly they abandoned their posts clutching at their ears their eyes dancing wildly across the sky as they attempted to work out where the rockets would land, in their desperation they forgot where to look leaving some to take one wrong step falling off the walls, breaking their feeble bodies if not killing them outright where others would crash into one another. However, the true devastation of rocket artillery did not reach a full conclusion until the rockets hit their destination.

Striking downwards the rockets exploded with a series of loud roars, those nearby were blasted apart their steel armour unable to save them as the sheer pressure from the explosion blew their flesh bodies apart, pulverising them, those who weren't killed screamed in pain as limbs tore off from their bodies with a raucous force, blood was sent everywhere spraying the local walls and nearby wardens in their life force, other meanwhile initially lucky to avoid the explosive force were soon blinded as the searing heat struck their faces igniting their skin and searing their flesh. Soon the smell of cooking flesh was made apparent but the damage was not yet finished as those shots that did not do immediate damage soon struck the remaining buildings and walls exploding with enough force to cause debris to fly upwards before landing back down.

As the screams of the dying and wounded round themselves upwards from the initial volley of fire up to those on the ridge, those left still on the walls, the veterans who may have endured a siege recently due to some sort of conflict rose their heads in utter horror at the devastation that had been wrought upon them. Was this the power of the Inquisition, their gaze locked towards the ridge where they saw the leaders of the Inquisition? They were hard to make out at this distance and with the early sun glinting in their eyes helping to blind them, yet even as the light of the early dawn affected their vision they could make out easily the visage of one individual out of all of them dressed in a bright scarlet.

Anger in their blood those that did not retreat quickly stood up retaking their old positions or new ones if they no longer existed rallying the younger and less experienced members of their order as they prepared for an inevitable charge. The enemy would have to come now, there was no time for a siege, the longer they waited the more time it would give to them to complete their goal.

Then the second wave came, roaring cannon so loud that it was as though they were fighting in the heavens with storms all around them, and lightning in the form of metal balls striking and crushing everything that opposed them such was the force of such weapons while the rockets continued to rain down a maelstrom of death the fiery explosions they caused starting fires that suffocated the nearby soldiers as they rushed to fight it and through it, all more men and women died butchered by the machines of war. Still, they braced for the attack, yet none came instead they watched wearily as time passed by, soon seconds became minutes and then those minutes became an hour that after even more time became a full total of four long agonising death filled hours.

Four hours of continuous bombardment, of cannon, roaring, rockets screaming and the wounded crying in agony, after only half an hour all but one of those they could see had left the ridge seemingly leaving to do something else, all bar the one dressed in the colour that the wardens blood now ran, unflinching, unmoving even as the sounds and scent of war became all the more apparent. And the smell now with hours passed the white cloud of continuous firepower had mixed with that of the death and decay created by those now rotting corpses their dead eyes staring endlessly at the sky. With such a long prelude to any true confrontation, the wardens could only watch with disgust as demons slipped through the weakening of the veil taking advantage and possessing the corpses of their recently dead.

Up they rose, each corpse rising from the dead their blasted corpses slaughtered as their armour was shattered by cannon fire slowly rising with a scraping sound as broken and crumpled armour moved once again, those who had died to the searing lame their corpses now a charred husky slowly digging upwards with a snarl grabbing their weapons between their now skeletal fingers, the flesh hanging from their limp forms like some kind of disease. As they came forth so did the demons snarling angrily with hasty movements as they glared at the cannon fire that so easily had torn down these walls cracking their defences and leaving them all open either for the cannon or for the rockets to carry on fire.

As for the castle itself, it could no longer even be considered that anymore for a castle was a structure built defensively to defend the occupants, but that was no longer true, now there was only rubble and a fine cloud of death and ash and flame that coated in for even the inner fortress and walls had been broken their mighty edifices come crashing down on the defenders leaving only the central plaza relatively undamaged but that was only due to the act of mages who through the use of their powers had kept up a powerful barrier defending the ritual area from assault and killing them all. But it would not last that long as soon the mages were bound to get tired and that would mean they would either have to replace their losses via either blood magic or taking it in turns, either way, the loss of mages in the ritual simply to defend it had been costly.

The defenders would now have to become the attackers they realised for they could not take another hour of the bombardment, yet at the same time, the death toll of their number had been beneficial for as it was known, the more deaths that occurred in a place the weaker the veil became and with so many mages dying that veil was nearly all but shattered and soon their goals would come to light, they would win this.

Soon they would bring death to the enemy and they would kill them.

And then it started, a strange sound of music at first it had been faint barely audible under the sensation of constant cannon and rocket fire as they filled the sky, but then it became louder, and louder until it emerged from the roars of battle even louder than anything else that had ever existed. The sound of music specifically of some type of pipe only instead of the usual pipes that the wardens and demons were used to this was a different one, it was loud, raw and echoed through the valley and collapsed walls of the old fortress with as much force as a hurricane breaking upon a city made entirely of wood and no foundations. All were taken aback by it and all attention focused back not to the ridge but instead to the sides was a stream of scarlet red, deeper and more colourful then blood poured from either side in a steady and orderly march.

Drums joined the sound shortly, loud and respective joining in with the sounds of the mighty pipes each beat matching that of the soldiers dressed in their red as steadily and with a uniformity matched by professional warriors did they form a tight yet thin line directly facing the now ruined remain of the fortress. And from their number did the defenders stop and see as a myriad of flags waving harshly in the wind cut forth through the thick smoke and dance in the morning light searing into their minds. There were only two flags that stood out in the group, the first was a black flag with a sword on fire and an eye on a black background obviously the symbol of the Inquisition who had led this attack on their fortress but the second was unknown to those that lurked within. Red, white and blue did it shimmer, a mix of red and white crosses on a dark blue background, that waved in the fore held sternly in their grips of these men who wore red coats and marched in unison.

The music carried on getting louder and louder as they formed up until eventually the small force that the Inquisition had brought had fully presented itself, the defenders with bated and silent breath ignored the sounds of cannon and rocket fire that had previously pounded their positions and could instead only watch as one lone individual wreathed in the same red but also wreathed in a brilliant gold that glimmered brightly as the sun caught it walked to the lead a sword in one arm and held against his shoulder. Then there was a shout, and the music changed suddenly going from a more rhythmic pace to a faster temp one that spoke of death and destruction and the pipes and drums played loudly following and inspiring the men of the Inquisition as the leader to the first step forward and led them towards the fortress.

Slowed by both their fear for even as the men marched did the artillery arrayed against them refuse to stop fire instead changing from their relentless assault onto the individuals whether demon or nor and fired blasting apart groups of defenders from their positions. Yet despite this, the wardens seeing their doom soon at hand rallied towards one another and climbed through the wreckage of their fortress doing their best to form some type of defensive formation. Their training helped and with the assistance of all those wardens who were not mages and required for the ritual joining their brothers and sisters in the final defence, did they lock shields with one another drawing their swords in unison and marched over the battered and broken corpses of their deceased comrades to meet the foe.

Nat watched sternly his sword in hand as he marched towards the enemy, as he moved every step closer the sounds of bagpipes and drums behind him he did not feel fear nor regret instead all he felt was a growing sense of excitement. It was a bit of strange thing, something no member had likely ever thought would ever occur again, he a Tempest had truly gone back to their roots to how their family was founded over two hundred years ago. In the fires of war with powder burnt, cannonballs flying around, a blade in hand, pistol at his waist and with his wand ready to unleash the power of magic upon his enemies and most importantly with a contingent of red coats behind him ready to unleash death as a thousand musket balls were unleashed with force and powder did he realise what happened. His family had been birthed in the Napoleonic war's and now he was reliving that and all he felt was a growing sense of excitement, something that as he locked onto one particular warden his gaze rarely leaving did he feel his blood began to rush with excitement and his ears filled with the music of war did he allow a smile to dawn on his face.

This was going to be fun.

Step by step they moved towards the enemy position, canon continuing to roar ahead and smash into the hastily made line that the Templar's had made up, no doubt they were planning on using their martial training and armour to kill them in close combat where they could regain some advantage back, it would be of no use. His smile widened and a vicious grin became present as the first stragglers of the undisciplined demon force rushed forth to meet them, sloth, rage, ash wraiths and everything else made up their front line and they were itching for a fight now that the Inquisition had agreed. As soon as they entered within a comfortable distance, he took his wand as he continued marching his sword in his left hand still lent against his shoulder and did he unleash his magic upon the enemy.

Spells shot from the wand at speed striking into the enemy with incredible force, splattering their pathetic mortal forms all over the place and eviscerating them, but it was not just him for as the demons swept forth to strike the red coat's so did the Inquisitor and her retinue match them, in turn, unleashing the might of their skill, magic and power upon the enemy.

Spells launched by mages and wizard alike, bolts from crossbows and the slashes and thrusts of Blackwall and Bull as they charged ahead of the main host ramming their weapons into the enemy's force moving their attention away from the disciplined line and towards something else proved useful for even as they finished those fights the soldiers of the Inquisition marched past music still blaring in their ears until finally, they stood across their enemy of the wardens.

"First Rank" The loud cry of their commander as he walked backwards at a calm and steady pace, refusing to show any fear and folding behind the line of muskets, across from them the Grey wardens advanced slowly as they kept their shield interlocked ready for the onslaught, even as outnumbered at they were. "Fire"

With that sounded a cacophony of noise spat forth from the first line of the recoats as balls of small led were shot forth from their muskets with a righteous fury and orange glow followed by a thick smoke that came forth from their weapons, smashing through the air and screeching past the shields of the Grey wardens and into their armour with force breaking upon them where they blew through the skin and imparted such force. Within the first volley, the line of the wardens stopped entirely as they took such casualties their members falling to the floor either dead or in pain as limbers were shot dead, bones smashed into pieces or large gouges of their chests ripped entirely out. But there was to be no respite for as soon as the first volley had finished leaving the men to duck suddenly as they began to reload their weapons did the next order come.

"Second Rank, Fire" And with another outpouring of fire did those who had been fortunate enough to avoid such damage wee they struck down which was then met by the command of. "Third rank, fire" This gave forth another devastating volley of musket fire at point-blank range by which point the entire desperate shield wall had faded away as most their number lay dead or dying including those smarter demons who had followed behind. In such a situation the wardens fled in fear, froze or with an angry shout of pain and agony abandoned all course of reasonable warfare and simply followed their anger charging forth swords and weapons raised high where they then heard the dreaded noise. "First rank, fire" More were cut down and by this point, the entire line had collapsed and only those who had begun to run initially were left alive or they were until the sounds of individual gunfire alerted the wardens as men dressed in a dark velvet green finished off their retreating targets killing them stone dead with accuracy.

Nat glance to those men and gave them a nod for in the enemies shield wall and focus on the large ever marching red line had they ignored the rifles allowing them in the constant fire and sounds of war to pick off those mages, stopping them before they could do any major damage and allowing for the path to remain clear before them. Shooting a rogue demon that came charging at him with a simple explosive spell he then called for a reload of the ranks and then carried forth to the broken and tattered remains of the wardens fortress where the rest remained, as they did so the rifles took their time in finishing off anyone who was not already dead and belonged to the Wardens.

He would not spare any.

Now sitting opposite the gate he waited for the Inquisitor and the others to finish their fights as they combined with the rifles cleared what remaining hovels and blasted buildings remained, then with the full force of his army, he alongside the others marched into the main plaza where the last few vestiges of the wardens remained.

"In the name of the Inquisition stop this madness" Nat's voice rocked with such power that those few remaining stopped their actions and focused on the wizard for a moment. How had this happened they wondered, they were a mighty force one that should have dealt severe damage yet all they could see as they saw past the crumbling ruins were nothing bur corpses of their brothers and sisters, not a single one of them lived leaving only fifteen of them including Livius to stare as anguish and hatred dawned on their face. Drawing their weapons the last few vestiges of the wardens prepared themselves for the fight ready to give their lives yet before either side had the chance to unleash the first volley the sound of a woman's voice coming upwards from a raised area drew all attention, it was Warden-Commander Clarel.

"Wardens, we are betrayed by the very world that we have sworn to protect- we must"

"Quiet" Nat's voice roared once again over the woman's shutting her up in an instant as she glared angrily. "Look around you wardens, your fortress is in tatters, your members slaughtered like animals by my soldiers, do you seriously believe that you can win this fight, Lay down your arms and mercy shall be granted"

"Mercy" A cold cruel yet familiar chuckle resounded next to the Warden as soon enough the foul visage of Livius stepped forth an amused expression painted predominantly on his face. "How foolish do you believe the wardens are boy, they know who you are Butcher, they know what you've done. Do you seriously believe the wardens will believe a word that will come from lips, you are nought but a liar, giving false promises, your mercy will simply have the wardens lay down their weapons and as soon as you have done so you shall simply shoot them in the back? The man's cold glare stared down at him calling upon the other wardens to stare in growing horror as they recognised the title that befell the second in command of the Inquisition.

"As I said" Nat repeated this time in such a freezing tone that it sent shivers down the backs of the men and women around. "Lay down your weapons and you shall be given your lives fail and..." At that last bit, the trained disciplined of the soldiers of the Inquisition acted as one levelling their muskets in a thin line aimed directly at the Wardens, at point-blank range these bullets would be faster than any spell cutting down the enemy mages before they had the chance to create a barrier, all but Clarel and Livius would die instantly.

"See he offers you mercy, but it is nothing but another form of death, do not listen to him wardens, do your duty"

"Wardens listen to me" The sudden voice of Valeyna cried pushing past a few men and taking centre stage. "The calling is False, all that you have heard all your actions it is because Corypheus created the calling, there is no new blight, trust me."

"Impossible" One of the wardens yelled doubtfully.

"Listen to the Inquisitor she speaks the Truth" Stroud added appearing from behind the ranks. "This mage works for Corypheus it is he who has taken you on this path, he means to summon an army of demons not to kill the old gods, but instead to March upon Thedas in means to conquer it"

"Conquer Thedas, Wardens do you seriously believe such drivel my master simply wishes to aid"

"Oh shut up you over glorified windbag" Nat yelled, stopping for a moment he took in a deep breath where he then counted for a few seconds then finally he lowered his sword placing it back within its sheath and walked away from the line of musket men giving them the command to stand at ease. The Wardens could not fall, there was still one more old god to be dealt with plus the Architect and Corypheus to hold in iron and magic when the war was done, if they lost what little remained of the Wardens now, things would go poorly. "Wardens, the mage's master is Corypheus, one of the original Magister's who stepped forth into the golden city, one of the ones who brought back the blight into this world. It is he who commands this false Calling; it is he who has drawn you to this edge. Now I can state many reasons why he would do such a thing, but I shall not, you are the Grey Wardens, the enemies of Darkspawn and the Blight so I bid you answer this question, why would Corypheus create a false calling"

There was a silence for a while but that changed as individual wardens reluctantly turned to one another and began speaking amongst themselves until after a minute or so one lone voice commented.

"To destroy us so we can't stop him" Nat nodded once towards the Warden a relatively young one who seemed to quake as he felt the legendary butchers gaze upon him, yet despite his quaking knees he was able to carry on speaking. "But even if that's true, how did he create the Calling? He wouldn't have the power"

"Think about your actions" Nat replied as warmly as he could. "You are seeking to bring forth a demon army; you are using the power of the fade to help you in this cause. Now as a mage I'm sure you know about the different spirit types and what they feed on, so tell me what emotion is so often tied to the Blight, more so than any other" The young mage warden blinked still terrified, glancing back he turned to the angry face of Livius the man's seemed to yell but much to the man's shock before he could even get a word off no words escaped his lips only silence.

"Fear" The mage warden responded reluctantly. "It's a known thing that as well as devastation that fear runs rampant in Blights and the number of fear demons that exist become almost as much of a problem as Darkspawn."

"Good now tell me, if there was one sole type of fear that could make a demon gorge themselves on, what would it be" The mage blinked in realisation, slowly he turned his heavy boots gently tapping on the stone floor until he stared directly into the terrified eyes of Livius where he saw only truth. "The blight" The boy answered.

"Now in such a situation can you see any reason why an ancient Darkspawn might create a false calling with a powerful demon who feeds of the fear of the blight, after all, would not the fear of a blight alone call unparallel panic especially if the Legendary Grey Wardens were now fighting for a Darkspawn, becoming nothing but it's pawns"

"It would feed the demon, who could then" The boy stopped suddenly without any hesitation he twirled his staff with fury and launched a spell at Livius, before it could do any damage however Livius was able to conjure up his barrier spell ensuring that the wardens spell merely bounced off, it was a shocking attack one that sent shocked glances throughout all the wardens and Livius but it only lasted for a moment as in the next Clarel the Warden-Commander stopped her previous spell and soon joined in with the young warden as she sent a roaring fire spell at Livius before she could send another spell however she was knocked aside as a blast of wind rocketed forth from another mage's staff and sent her crashing into the wall, not all the mages had bought the story.

Sensing his opportunity Livius jumped up to his feet and dashed towards the nearest exit.

"Not this time you don't" Nat roared as he charged after the man through the current fight of mages leaving command up to somebody else, he was not alone however as joining him was the Inquisitor, Varric, Blackwall, Bull, Hawke and Stroud. Summoning forth a barrier around them Valeyna covered their rapid advance even as spells began hurling everywhere exploding with bright and forceful power that even with the warming sun still glimmered with a hazy glow. "Soldiers, fall back and take defensive positions" And with that cry, Nat alongside the others sprinted around the nearest corner out of sight as they chased Livius through what remained of the once-great fortress.

Bobbing, weaving, jumping, ducking, all of these actions were required and all in great speed as the group sped through the shattered carcass of Adamant. Just as Nat had promised to them, the raw firepower of cannons and rocket artillery against weak and undefended walls had been utterly immense, at some place there were just remains of large debris of there were until with a blast of his own magic Livius rocketed the entire thing ahead of with sending the debris several hundred metres upwards into the sky forcing the mages of the Inquisition to create powerful defensive spells to stop them from being struck. At the same time, they struck back, Hawke, Valeyna and Nat working as a group to send a myriad of offensive spells careening into the distance, some shattered against the barrier doing nothing, others targeted the ground sending large craters just by Livius feet to try and make him stumble and others were more directed to those last few columns of wall in an attempt to crush the man. As they fought however so did Livius performing the same type of spells to the same ends managing to slow his pursuers but never stop them?

"Go on ahead" Valeyna yelled as she flinched as a powerful ice spell froze the land in front of them, "We'll catch up" Nat glanced as best as he could behind him, Varric was slowing behind his shorter stature preventing from taking the needed strides, Blackwall was in much better position but he was still a regular man and one who had taken an important duty in clearing out the demons and stopping them from attacking his front line, that left Bull who seemed to be in far better condition as he easily kept up with the pace but he could also tell that the sheer quantity of spells that were exploding around them was going to prove a problem, Bull was simply too large a target and it would only require one spell to slip past Hawke and Valeyna as they kept up the barrier spells to cause some serious trouble.

"Yeah I- take cover" He shouted. Flinging himself to the side, he barely had any time to dodge as a wreath of pure chaotic magical energy more than enough to strike him where he had previously been blowing up the entire area. Stone flew everywhere, sending small musket ball-sized pieces of debris with such speed that it slammed into the Inquisitors barrier that it appeared to stop time itself for a moment. He gazed upwards towards the source and upon the sight, he felt his heart tighten as a terrible heart punching roar bellowed forth from the monster up ahead.

"Archdemon" The scream was like something of a nightmare, of some type of black demon that had been wrenched forth ready to consume the world and leave nothing but a shadow. Nat gulped his heart beating faster than any set of war drums as the previous burst of adrenaline that had filled his veins drained quickly as he sensed it's power. Even from there that thing was a monster, the normally beautiful scales had been transformed into a horrid putrid black gooey mess that seemed to absorb light and bubble, just looking at it made him feel sick, but he had no time to gawk and gaze instead he had to act quickly. He pushed himself off the floor with a role and continued running not even bothering to send a look at the Inquisitor, if this was the reinforcements that Corypheus had sent, then it must have come for Livius.

Pushing past the screeching pain as his muscle protested from the pain of flinging himself so violently, he got up and continued on his run as best he could, following the trail that the man left. He had to get Livius and if he created a distraction for the giant black and corrupted dragon so be it. The dragon turned its enormous tattered black wings stretching over where the suns' light poured forth from enveloping the entire fortress in shadow as it unleashed another agonising roar then with the sounds of a powerful hurricane wind howling like a rabid set of wolves it turned towards him and flew.

Running as fast as he could his feet beating upon the stone, he moved as fast as he could, moving with as much as haste as he could as he twisted around the corners and simply leapt at higher ledges clutching at them and then dragging himself upwards, if he remembered the plans correctly then he wasn't far from the bridge. That was where Livius would go, no doubt the area would be the perfect destination if Livius was to escape with the dragon and even if not it was the only direction that he could do that would not end in Inquisition forces control Another roar turned his thoughts to the dragon, it was now in a sweep heading directly it's mouth wide as it spewed raw fade energy in the form a bright red beam of energy decimating anything that came in its path as it raced towards. Nat lurched and leapt over the gap in the ruined walls barely dodging the red beam where with a loud thump he hit the surface of the stone chest forward eliciting a painful growl as he got up and continued running. Thankfully the dragon seemed to be on a strafing run as it ignored him long enough for him to continue, but one look in its path could only elicit a horrifying sight for as the dragon flew past him it instead aimed for the big bright block of men a hungry and vengeful look on its face. Then, with another roar, it unleashed its magic.

Death screamed outward from the men, even located elsewhere as he was Nat's heart fell and dropped as though he was the crumbling walls of adamant as rapidly like a succession of small lights flickering out the sense of men crumbled rapidly as their lives were cut down mercilessly. First it one then two but as the dragon kept slaughtering the men, trapped as they were within the confines of the fortress, pushing and clambering over one another in their bid to stay alive it only left time for the dragon to sweep back round once more and massacre more of them increasing the tempo of its attacks significantly until soon all those lives he had thought he had saved with the use of artillery preventing the men from getting involved in a bloody siege was lost as hundreds lay dead where they were, their bodies broken, smashed, scattered and sprawled everywhere.

He came to a stop, his rapid chase of the murderer that was Livius entirely forgotten, this was just like that time, with Elyria and Gerald. His mind flashed back to the horror that had been on their faces when the monster had appeared, he had left them to die, to be consumed by the blight their bodies turned.

Screaming echoed forth from the men, he could pursue only one, the man who had turned the Wardens down a dark but desperate path in hopes of safeguarding the world in their demise and ultimately was probably one of the more major individuals in the Venatori, or he could face the dragon, defend his men from the horrors that waited for them, stop it from slaying his people.

He only had a split decision he realised, otherwise both would be lost. He turned his head back towards Livius, he was the greater prise, no doubt information ran through his head information that could be used to strike at Corypheus and do damage to him, but at the cost of more men, more families receiving letters and heartbreaking news. Or he could assist the men saving them from calamity but letting Livius flee back to his master and protection. The former was the logical option, the one that would prove more decisive, and these men and women were not innocents, they were soldiers, they had chosen this path, but they were his people.

Restarting his stride this time enhanced by the emergency that awaited him, he sped up pushing limbs even faster to the limit, every muscle burned like it never had before, every blood vessel seeming to expand and contract and his breath was in an out constantly, yet onwards he rushed. At his very presence, the walls seemed to blast apart of his way, not daring to challenge him and neither did the fallen rubble provide other challenges as instead, it rose to meet him forming a long bridge that rose upwards carrying him in a straight direction as he saw his target and then when he reached the end he leapt off.

Agonising screams lit up the sky filtering through as desperate cannon and artillery fired soon returned to world lighting up the sky in a myriad of flames and fire as in their fear the guardians of such terrible weaponry unleashed their weapons in a desperate attempt to end the beast and bring it's cruel menace down. But it was not enough and the beats had long since grown wise of its tactics as even as a cannonball sailed through the air towards it the Archdemon needed only to move it's wing upwards allowing for the cannonball to carry on past it harmlessly before then smashing into the wall many metres behind. A barrage of rockets came next and though requiring more effort to stop, little in truth was needed for with a strong and mighty flap of its wings a powerful gust was sent forwards towards the rockets batting them ten and there out of the sky, ruining their trajectory and sent towards striking and breaking apart the world. The dragon snarled at the artillery, letting out a low and hateful sound it made to move against them, burn them to ash or rip them between its sharp rows of teeth.

Well, it meant to as in the next sound that far quieter sound of rifle fire sounded off and the dragon winced slightly as balls of metal slammed against its hide like a set of blunted needles hitting hard against the skin, it would be enough to bruise, but not enough to kill. Roaring at the challenge the snake-like head changed its direction and with another flap of its wings sent the man flying through the air before then unleashing its jaws where without any hesitation it belched forth a red inferno consuming all those below. As it watched sure in its victory as abandoned weapons either caught flame or melted simply from being close, the dragon felt satisfied until after enough seconds has passed and it stopped allowing to see it's work.

As the fire faded away however what little feeling of satisfaction the dragon felt was quashed as it gazed upon a glowing white light from down below, glancing past the edges of this light it saw to its utter fury those who should have died leaving corpses instead cowering on the ground their faces stunned as they gazed upon the light that had protected them.

"Hello "Nat's voice rung out like a horn, smug and triumphant undeterred by the looming dark shape before it instead to the awe of the men around him he simply leaned down grabbed one of the soldiers and pulled them up to their feet all the while keeping eye contact with the dragon and not breaking his rival stare. "I don't remember inviting a gecko to this party, could I have been mistaken?" Then mockingly, a notebook was conjured its pages flapping wildly in the wind before then slamming with the same force as a cities front gate. "I'm sorry it doesn't appear that you're on the invitation list, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave"

The dragon roared in defiance at the tone used before without any warning given he threw his head forward once again belching fire this time focused entirely onto the mage in front of him, but before the flame had even made its way halfway to the ground, the writhing mass of orange and glowing red stopped before with a sudden burst of energy it turned back around and shot back at the dragon coating itself. Powerfully it burned, its own fire used against it easily seemed to decimate that legendary defence the dragon had as it felt it scales warm-up uncomfortably causing a roar of anguish to escape. It only lasted a short while however as the dragon shot upwards allowing for the cool winds to batter the flames until it disappeared entirely. As it did so Nat turned towards his soldiers their awe-stricken faces turned to something else, something he had never come across before, he didn't ponder it however instead sweeping his hands harshly towards the way they had been running and ordered in a booming tone.

"Run, do not remain here in folly for I cannot keep this monster contained, however, I can keep it distracted, long enough to give you some time to escape. Run"

The soldiers did not refute the orders instead, with one more roar from the dragon as it stopped the ineffectual fire that had clung to it like a set of brightly glistening clothes only informed them that they had an opportunity and that they were dammed if they didn't take it. Seeing the dragon relocate its prey and then dive down it's corrupted wings behind it's back allowing it to pick up speed Nat snarled beating back the unnoticed shaking of his hand before then calling upon his power he let it loose in a crack of lightning that struck upon the dragon's chest throwing it mid-flight where it then turned and faced him.

"I don't think so" Nat called out locking his attention with that of the corrupted beast. It was a truly horrid feeling to gaze upon the monstrosity for as it floated there not too far from him could he tell why Arch Demons were such feared monsters. Even as a fake this dragon radiated raw power so much so that the very area around the beast seemed to radiate with it only instead of doing something else instead the blight made its presence known. Those corpses of men long dead grew paler then imaginable, their deaths and still not cool bodies appearing to turn a pure white twisted with now growing black veins that rotted the flesh to the bone leaving them there dead until only after a few seconds all flesh had left the bodies, instead, leaving only decay.

As it did so he felt the dragons magic try to affect him, trying to clamber over his body, draining him of the strength of his magic, also as this occurred, the stuffed air also seemed to change, but instead by entirely vanishing and were it not for the sudden use of a bubblehead charm that covered his mouth and nose he would have started to suffocate. Once again the dragon roared in frustration and then launched another flame blast but like before Nat blocked it and when the beast saw that he emerged unscathed, it became enraged. Before it did so Nat unflinchingly drew his blade with his left hand as he moved his right where his wand lay so that it was made visible to the beast and then called out to the dragon.

"Fuck off back home, you stupid fucking lizard" Once more a roar of anger resounded around the broken and crumbling ruins of Adamant as the dragon seemingly intelligent enough to recognise that it had been insulted by this mage voiced its displeasure as loudly as it could. Nat however even with the sheer power of the yell that could easily rival that of a cannon or explosion merely rolled his eyes at the antics as though it was a kitten who was leaping after a piece of string. "Oh do shut up, I've already killed two of you and I'm not afraid to add a third to the list. There were another roar and another blast of fire that was likely to try and engulf him, turning him to ash and cinders but once more the power of a simple spell kept the wizard alive as he took on a disappointed face.

He had to distract it as long as possible he knew, every moment that the dragon was roaring and attacking him was one that the beast would not use against the soldiers of the Inquisition, giving them the time required to escape the conflict safely. But there was more to it than that, the dragon was a threat one that could also attack either the Inquisitor possibly killing her as it ambushed her snatching her from the ground and then eating her hole or instead be used as an escape route by Livius, snatching the magister up in his talons and spiriting him away back to his master. No this was merely a distraction, it was just a case of how long until the monster realised it.

"You've tried that already, do you not have anything else you can use or are you just some big fat slob who can't be bothered to do anything in life. Phh, why Corypheus decided to make you his pet I'll never understand, you're just a pathetic worm". That defiantly gained the attention of the dragon and it was only with years of experience not to mention the experience of being dragged behind a dragon did he recognise the twitch in the dragon's wings that indicated it what came next. Therefore as the dragon lurched it's wings back delivering a powerful gust the same strength as storm winds did Nat vanish from his spot narrowly dodging the winds that would have torn him from his ledge and sent him sprawling into the sky and instead high into the sky directly before one of the dragon's eyes his sword mid slash.

It was too late however as sensing his magic, the dragon shot off into the distance roaring powerfully as it so sending howling screams as the wind rocketed into an old remaining stable and tore it down sending ash high into the air followed by the remains of a corpse of one of the beasts before then on the second pass where with incredible speed and grace the dragon caught the corpse in its powerful vice-like jaws and tore at it between its razor-sharp teeth that easily cleaved through the dead horse breaking it up before then throwing its head back swallowing the horse whole.

"Is that it?" Nat yelled ruthlessly moving his blade into a more advantageous position as she readied for the dragon and prepared to make another teleportation, he would have to strike even quicker and again at somewhere unprotected like the eyes, once that was done he could blast its brain into a pulp with Magic, but first, he had to get into that position. Unfortunately at that moment, the dragon's attention changed from that of him and instead to somewhere else, before he could even launch another spell at the beast the dragon gave another roar and then flew off in another strafing run.

"Wh- Inquisitor" Now taking another breath, Nat once again waved his wand feeling how his magic shot out and started to assemble the broken and destroyed ruins of adamant turning them into a flat ramp that would head in the direction of the tower. As stone and rubble flew around him mid-sprint it soon became easy to spot the familiar bright blonde hair and flashing tattoo patterns of the inquisitor Vallaslin as she followed by the other members continued to race through following Livius as best they could before then coming to the bridge.

Though he could not hear was what happening below him even as he did his best to continue running as fast as his legs would take him all the while doing his best to avoid the attention of the archdemon as he ascended higher and higher into the sky hoping to catch up to it without giving himself away as he had done sp previously, he was able to watch as the sights below changed. The warden commander ambushed the man first, knocking him over with a simple blast sending the fool to the floor as he simpered like the coward he was, Clarel stood over him next holding her staff as though she was about to impale him however it was at that moment the dragon dived.

"Clarel" He yelled loudly his voice heading towards, but it was not enough for faster than anyone could have imagined the archdemon in all its dark glory snatched up the woman between its grinding teeth and flew off, it crunched for a minute the sound of rendered flesh and broken bone made really apparent only to be then made worse as her body was thrown against the cold harsh stone of the floor with a loud thump that no doubt broke bones as was made apparent by her limp crawling along the floors.

As everyone else concentrated on the dragon though their eyes fixed in fear and fury as the warden commander was beaten and abused by this large dragon, Livius sensing this made his attempt to mistake silently as he could crawling himself to his feet and then starting to limp over the bridge. Not allowing the man to escape however Nat followed this time simply running to the edge of the bridge he was on and jumped feeling the sensation as the wind brushed against his hair and skin.

Close and close he could feel himself getting, within a few moments he would land carefully with a poised grace and deliver a smack in the face to the man, but before he could his attention was diverted as the sounds of an explosion rocked the air. Focusing his eyes he felt his stomach drop as the remains of the spell sped past the dragon only barely missing the Inquisition before slamming into the bridge just in front of him. With a terrible explosion and series of lights he could only watch as with a scream Livius felt the stone beneath him give way in an instant sending him as well as all others downwards into the empty void of black.

Nat steered himself and redirected his attention to the inquisition, moving in a controlled fall as he used magic to speed his descent, it would be an easy enough procedure he just needed to reach out a hand and stretch, suddenly he felt a surge of magic and then everything went a bright emerald green.

THE FADE

"Woah"

"Shit

"Aah"

They were all falling downwards taken by gravity yet at that moment where they would have hit the ground spattering their bodies all over the place and killing them in an instant, their fall lasted only for a few seconds more sending all bar one of the group crashing into different places with a loud thump. Only after had this happened and the other's stood up did they watch as Nat unlike the other's floated gently to the ground before then stopping lightly perfectly intact.

"Where are we" The faint voice of the Inquisitor radiated as she rubbed her eyes allowing her to take in the sight properly, she then rubbed her eyes again. "What in the"

The area that they were in was like nothing any of them had seen before, strange, mythical and at the same terrifying, though there was a floor beneath them it was like nothing that they had ever seen before in their lives, hard yet sandy. Above them the most noticeable difference between where they were now, was the sky for it wasn't blue like normal or even black allowing for the moon and stars to reveal themselves to the world, glittering brilliant above, but instead it was a faded sickly green, smoggy in texture and with no origin point like a sun. The general terrain was rocky, with large cliffs and seeming mountains behind them, there was also a water-like substance but instead of the life given liquid it was instead an ever dark green, corrupted and so vile that just its' appearance gave shudders to the onlookers. Around the edges of this area, the group could see a miasma of writing green gas and electrical currents and when they then looked up they could only witnesses as large rock formations floated endlessly around, though what they were nobody could say.

"Sweet Merlin" Nat gasped loudly clutching his head tightly in pain as he did so. "The raw amount of magic here, oww fuck. It's like nothing I ever fell before, raw magic, intoxicating, brilliant, powerful and entirely overpowering as though it's sinking it's hook's into you and pulling you apart on a molecular level. This should be impossible. Nowhere feels like this not even Hogwarts"

"Nat" Valeyna looked round shocked to see their final member who had seemingly come out of nowhere. "Where did you come from?"

"I was distracting the dragon"

"Brilliant job you were doing" Hawke snarled ruthlessly. She also glanced at their surroundings in an attempt to get her bearings however unlike Valeyna and the others who looked around curiously at first with this almost dreamlike landscape but instead with a growing sense of dread and realisation. This place may not have been somewhere she had personally visited in the past, but the floating rocks, the weird lightning and the strange appearance of this place reminded her of her own adventure, back in Kirkwall. She hoped this was not that place, not after the last few times she had been here even if only in her dreams, it never ended well.

"What are you talking about kid?" Blackwall muttered moving towards him with concern. Nat winced at the pain and touched his forehead his eyes scrunching in pain as he did so. The pain was immense as though he was being drowned and he barely had enough oxygen to exist let alone think. With a grunt of pain he took in a deep breath, in and out it went in some hope that it would clear his head, it didn't work however instead all he could feel was that constant sharp piercing sensation as though he was being stuck in the mind with a dagger.

"This place, it's like pure magic, it's in everything, running between every little snippet of every little thing, It's insane. Do you feel it Hawke, Inquisitor?"

"I do" Hawke answered grimly her attention glancing up to the floating stones. "It's as if my very magic has become even more powerful like a dam has broke, but as you said that should be impossible, not unless we."

"Entered the Fade" Valeyna finished with a loud and fearful gulp, All of a sudden the entire group paled as they glanced around the area their eyes flickering from place to place as they tried to conceive of such a notion.

"Sweet Merlin, of course, I thought I recognised this place"

"You do," The group said in shock as Nat looked around.

"Yeah" He grunted as painful memories passed by, he had been in Egypt months ago, there because he had won a tournament and was invited to look around. "It was when I came here, I had no clue where I was only that I was falling through a place like this for a few moments, and then I was in the Frostback Mountains. This must be from where I emerged, interesting"

"So you've been here before kid, do you think you could leas us the way out?" Bull said quickly.

"Hardly, I fell through one hole, arrived in the Fade then fell through another hole before I even knew what happened, there wasn't much time to sightsee. All the same, I think our best chance of leaving is to find that portal Livius was trying to open, but where that is located I couldn't say?"

"This could be a problem"

"I don't like that sound of that Inquisitor please tell me you have a plan" Varrick muttered as he glanced around the area, for some reason this place was creepy even more so then the Deep Roads where the skeletons and remains of all kinds lived, as he moved on doing his best to keep distracted from the dark feeling, however, he was thwarted as every single step seemed to bring back some type of nightmare.

"I don't know, the Fade is supposed to be infinite and we don't even know where we are, for all we know we could be somewhere far away from where we started"

"Oh brilliant so we're now stuck here in demon city" Bull laughed darkly his fingers clutching so tightly onto the handle of his axe that he didn't even notice them turn drastically pale and his large physical size shake with every step, no longer was he the strong unbeatable Qunari but a terrified man whose every step seemed to be haunted by creepy glowing eyes.

"Ow," Nat shouted in agony falling to a knee as he once again held his head.

"What is it what's wrong"

"Something just tried to get into my head, be careful I think we might be being watched"

"Watched" Valeyna's tone raised frightfully, from what.,

"I don't know, but whatever it is it's not only powerful but it's also old, very old as though it's seen a long amount of time, just like Imshael"

"Imshael" Valeyna paled at the information if what Nat said was true and this creature was as powerful as that old thing then this could be a disaster. She took a quick mental survey of her companions and her mood soured father, they were in no situation to fight, Bull was barely hanging on if the way he held onto his axe was anything to go by, Varrick's crossbow while generally, a useful weapon was not going to do anything and Blackwall was already doing what he could to catch his breath and as for Nat. While he looked physically fine, it was obvious that he was suffering as though he had caught some sort of winters illness, for his face was going paler by the second.

"I'm sorry, but who is Imshael," Hawke asked, "and why is he important?" Valeyna frowned at the emergence of that name, it had been a while since they had done anything regarding that old demon, instead, their thoughts had been focused back onto Corypheus and the wardens.

"Imshael is a demon" Nat answered. "One of the originals that taught the Tevinter mages how to originally use magic, at least according to the Chantry"

"Oh wonderful, so it wasn't bad enough that we had to fight an ancient magister from thousands of years ago and his pet Archdemon; now we have to fight his teacher too? Is there anything else you're not telling us" Varric threw his arms sarcastically as he focused on the two leaders of the conversation, he knew he wasn't privy to every single one of the inquisitors secrets, but he had expected to know that at least, to be left out of the loop was concerning as his role as a spymaster. Unfortunately, any hope of there being no more secrets was dashed as Valeyna shared a glance with Nat instantly passing some sort of unspoken conversation between the two that only lasted a second but ended in Nat sighing loudly and Valeyna smiling smugly as though she was a proud sister or mother who got told that their child was special.

"Nat captured the Architect"

"Who"

"Impossible" Stroud yelled incomprehensibly. "He was killed by the hero of Ferelden, there's no way a child could" Suddenly the man stopped his eyes growing several times larger as realisation mixed with horror dawned on his face at the news. "Not unless he could comeback like an Archdemon" He turned his attention fixed so harshly on the child that before Stroud had even known what he was doing, he had marched up to the wizard so that his face was now centimetres from his their eyes meeting sternly. "How did you beat him, with magic, where is he now, could you defeat Corypheus?"

"I'm sorry who is the Architect?" Hawke repeated her gaze glancing towards her own friend. "For some reason, it sounds familiar, like a distant memory of something long ago" Stroud nodded his face grave.

"That is most likely because of your old companion, Anders. The Architect is a figure that has been known to the Wardens from before the fifth blight. There was an expedition, one that involved king Marric what their goal was is not important, but on their journey, they encountered what was thought to be a rare Darkspawn. It was intelligent having a superior intelligence to all others that had come before and perhaps even rivalling if not surpassing that of Archdemons. The creature wanted to inflict the entirety of Thedas to the blight in some kind of way to stop the blights, a fight ensued and the Architect was believed defeated leaving only a young warden mage named Fiona who is now the Grand Enchanter of the rebel mages. At first, we didn't believe such a tale it was absurd and terrifying, but later it was discovered that the Fifth blight was caused by the Architect as it continued it's plans, discovering the dragon and tainting it. Only after the war when the Hero of Ferelden now the Warden-Commander encountered and slew in combat did we believe we have peace. But with the rise of Corypheus, I now see that the Architect was just like him, one of the original Magister's, if he survived death then no doubt Corypheus can as well"

"Wait Corypheus can't be killed" Blackwall yelled his face one of panic. "Then how do we defeat the bastard"

"We imprison him" Stroud answered without a doubt. "Corypheus is powerful, yes but the Wardens imprisoned him once, we can do so again. That should stop the threat"

"You defeated an ancient magister kid, on your own? Varric turned his respect rising at the deed committed. "You think you could do it again" Nat shook his shoulder and turned his head back towards where he had come from his attention diverting back to those of the men they had left behind. Were they okay? Had the dragon retreated or had it seized its chance and was now wreaking untold devastation. He clenched his fist tightly feeling his rage bubble up, once again he was separated from his subordinate by a dragon, once again good people would die because he wasn't there to protect them. "Kid?"

"No, not a chance. While they are both the same creature, in theory, they are not in mind or strength. Corypheus knows what he is, who he is, he still retains his memories, his knowledge, contacts and friends, his magic is undoubtedly powerful and is enhance even father by that orb Solas has previously mentioned, besides he knows us, he knows we have powerful images and he will no doubt be waiting for us to strike. As for the architect, his memories were shattered, he has no idea what or who he is, thank Merlin but he is still incredibly powerful, far more so then I. Were we to fight I might perhaps last five minutes and that would be via me being in the absolute most tip-top condition with many other factors in my favour. The architect has power you would not believe if you could sense it, I can't win and he's the weaker one of the two"

"But you did win, how else would you have captured it," Hawke asked her attention piqued at the memory of her homeland. She had long since visited it after her leaving and end of her tales of champion, but at times when she heard the tale of the hero of Ferelden she could not help but wonder what would have happened had she stayed in her home, had she played a part and not become the woman she was, not become the one who set of this entire mage templar war with her actions and allowing for the escape of Corypheus in the first place.

"Trickery and toxic gas" Nat answered plainly. "The architect is more scholarly, he wanted to investigate me, no doubt to perform experiments" He shivered as he remembered those horrid milky eyes piercing him. "He pursued with the express desire to take me alive meaning he was being gentle, I took advantage of that. With some quick magic and trickery, I managed to isolate the being and fill its lungs full of such potent toxic gas that it incapacitated the being allowing me to scoop him up and throw him in a makeshift magical prison. Also before you ask, the prison is in no means secure, my magic is not capable of keeping it in there indefinitely, in fact, the only thing keeping it conked out is a constant stream of gas and drugs that keep it in a coma. Should anything happen, however..."

"So you just managed to beat an ancient magister through trickery" Hawke blinked not able to find words that came to mind, it sounded ridiculous, sure Nat was a mage and a talented one, but to defeat such a being at a young age and on his own would be impossible for most mages, hell she even remembered fighting a barely half awoken Corypheus and that had been the toughest fight she ever had, so many times she had nearly died, yet here a kid had defeated something of equal power.

"That and high explosives in a confined area, suffice to say I did very little battling. I'm lucky to have made it out alive given that I pretty much collapsed the place on top of us as a last resort and that's not even mentioning the Titan and Old God"

"Titan, Old God" The other's glanced between the elf and wizard desperate for more details, however all that stopped as Bull in an unusual characteristic move picked up the kid and placed him on his shoulders where he could get a better view, upon seeing the strange looks he merely replied.

"Kid, sounds like if I simply just chuck you at a demon it would automatically die?"

"No Bull and don't believe me to be some kind of all-powerful god, I'm not, frankly I should be dead" He turned towards the other and returned to his serious tone. "I'm hardly invincible, the only ways I have won is not because of power but because"

"It's not about how powerful magic is, it's about how you use it" Valeyna answered her eyes sparkling with amusement. "How true that quote is, it explains how you killed the dragon"

"Seriously" Bull roared in anger at being left out of what may have been the best fight of all time.

"Anyway, we need to figure a way out of here" Valeyna interrupted suddenly focusing the attention of the group onto her. Strangely as she did so Nat noticed how in here, the fade she looked visibly different, it was difficult to explain, visibly she seemed the same, but magically she became more powerful, older, more cultured as though the very fade itself this place of magic was intertwining her, turning her not into something extraordinarily powerful but as stupid as it sounded turning some kind of clock on her, making her younger yet long-lived, radiating power and beauty, strength that was replaced by a strange melancholy of whispers on the wind, whispers that he could feel but not hear. He continued listening "If this is the Fade, then that means demons are here, no doubt some of them still want to escape which means we need to leave as soon as possible.

"You'll hear no complaints from me" Hawke chuckled however when she looked at Valeyna and how she moved to intercept Nat physically picking him off bulls shoulders who tapped his head in what could only be presumed as some kind of guardian manner like a shield and then grasped his hand tightly squeezing as she watched more blood dribble out his mouth. Then ensuring that he could carry on even in his weakened state she went silent and began a slow yet steady pace as they advanced upwards towards a set of stairs that while they did not know where they lead, were no doubt a way out of this place back to the real world.

"Spiders" One of them yelled not soon after approaching the stairs, yet when the others looked at these so-called spiders, they saw not what had been pointed out but something different, small creatures in one case, spells in another and tiny little rage demons in Bull's case which was not far from the truth.

"Bogart's" Nat spat again as he finished off one biting his teeth in a small amount of relief as a tiny amount of the magical pressure escaped him only for the pain to emerge again as the raw amounts of magic flooded back into him "Great, of all the things to fight it had to be those things

"Save your strength Nat," Valeyna said sternly as her attention lay on him, Nat was getting visibly paler by the minute as his once strong and steady visage seemed to crumble quickly before her eyes as though he had taken a large swig of a poisoned glass. The boy nodded though reluctantly and allowed himself to still keep moving. "

What are Bogart's" Bull shivered as he asked the very air in here felt wrong in all manners of ways, unnatural, cruel, dark, evil as though it's very existence caused a horrid feeling of pressure placed on his shoulders?

"They're creatures where I come from, they often hide in places making their home, but whenever anybody threatens one they emerge and take on a person's worst fear. These are just like them though much weaker most likely their weak little fear demons that feed on whatever scrap is left behind"

"So these demons take on the shape of something you fear" Nat nodded. "Great, just brilliant, this place keeps getting better and better" Drawled the giant man. "Boss I think we need to leave here the sooner the better" For once Valeyna did not have some sort of sassy remark to give back to the giant man, as much as she wanted to, this place seemed to drain her of every bit of joy she had ever experienced in her life replacing it with times she had been scared, at first it was mild starting with smaller memories such as jumping off a small ledge as a child but that gradually turned into larger things. Each was horrifying to their respective person as though not major fears, these creatures were often in the form of shapes that people found repulsive, some even combined. For Nat he saw many things, snakes, spider's bugs and insects, smaller creatures seemed to be made of the blight. He killed them all the same; his magic doing fine work in curetting down the demons to size one by one as he thinned their number until finally, they finished leaving the group in a brief respite as they climbed up the small incline, naturally it was it became somewhat of a relief to have something new to concentrate on as they found a strange unexpected person standing there.

It was a woman, specifically an elderly woman, one who had the markings of age clear and evident upon her skin, her eyes that perhaps might have been bright in earlier youth were now entirely void, dark and hollow as though her very soul had been sucked from her body making her appear even feebler from her age. Nat didn't recognise her, nor did he recognise the exact clothing she wore either though given the bright red, white and gold she wore in the same fashion as the other priests he had seen back in the mortal world he could tell that she would have been high ranking, though just how high that was he couldn't say.

Why was she here though and why was she alive when all others who were seemingly trapped in this realm were corpses whether fresh and laying around recently slain or so old that only bone remained and their skulls had been piled up in small altar-like heaps finally adorned with a single candle lit by veil fire.

"By the maker, could that be" Stroud began his eyes wide and unblinking as he leaned back when he saw the woman?

"I greet you, Warden, Champion and you as well Great Traveller" The woman spoke in a distinctly Orlesian accent, but it was at the very last title that Nat looked up at the woman suspiciously.

"You know?" He asked sternly his wand at the side and spell in his head, one that would kill this woman outright, waited with bated breath. "How?"

"That is not important, none of you will survive long in this realm but you most of all child, and you must leave quickly if you ever wish to escape for when the nightmare learns of your presence, it would be within its powers to entrap you here."

"Will, someone tell me who this woman is?" Nat demanded harshly as he felt another agonising pain smash into his mental shields, it was powerful and unrelenting and seemed to be hell-bent purely on learning what he did, he was able to hold it off, for now, the training on Occlumency providing essential defence, but he couldn't keep this up for long, not against a force which so far despite its attack felt like it had not truly noticed them and was instead doing something in a bored haphazard way rather than with any detail.

"How can you not know?" Stroud said shocked at the admission. "This is Divine Justinia, the Most Holy"

"Oh the female Pope, got you" He turned to the woman, attempting to feel her out with his magic but even here with her being no more than a foot or two away he felt as his magic was dragged throughout a million different currents unable to focus on anyone or anything. Finally, after some struggle, he managed to return to reality and ask. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" The ghost or spirit or whatever it was smiled warmly at him.

"Be careful Inquisitor the Divine died at Haven if this is her then it's no doubt some type of spirit or demon" Blackwall warned menacingly as he once again drew his weapons and did his best to get into the most advantageous position that would hopefully allow him to strike first if this was some type of trap.

"You think my survival possible, yet here you stand alive in the Fade yourselves, And you Traveller have survived an incredible journey, do you not think it possible that I may have survived, that I am indeed who now speaks to you"

"I don't know" Nat spat ignoring as more blood burst out the side of his mouth. "This isn't exactly my area of expertise, and just because one thing is possible does not make another thing so" For a moment Nat thought he saw the smallest hint of a smile on that craggy old face, some sort of jovial joy as though the woman found his doubt in her existence rather funny. He shook his head this place must be causing him to see things.

"In truth" The woman continued. "Providing my existence, either way would require time we do not have"

"Surely you can explain our concerns and tell us what we are" Hawke added suspiciously.

"I am here to help you. You do not remember what happened at the temple of sacred ashes, Inquisitor"

"How would you know that I became Inquisitor?"

"I know because I have examined memories like yours, stolen by the demon that serves Corypheus. It is the nightmare you forget upon waking, it feeds of memories of fear and darkness, growing fat upon the terror. The false calling that terrified the wardens into making such Grave mistakes? It's work. And you Traveller, you have helped to feed this monster, the anguish you have caused, the fear that spreads in the minds of Templar's upon your very name, you have assisted its plans even unknowingly"

"Catch 22" Nat chuckled darkly. "Dammed if you do, dammed if don't"

"I will gladly slay get revenge and slay this monster for the insult done to my brethren my lady" Declaring as loudly as he seemingly could Stroud glared at the green miasma of the Fade, glowering at it and seemingly desiring for anything and everything to die that possibly could.

"You will have your chance, Brave Warden. This place of darkness is its lair"

"Can you help us get out of the Fade?" Valeyna insisted panicking as she heard her friend cough and then spit more blood out staining the floor beneath them with his blood.

"That is why I found you. When you entered the Fade at Haven, the demon took a part of you. Before you do anything else, you must recover it. These are your memories Inquisitor" At that very moment the familiar sound of demons pouring forth from the veil emerged to the side and advanced upon them sending blasts of raw fade energy at them causing Nat to wince as he felt that they grew in power as they remained in such a place. Thankfully even with their upgrade in power and Nat's distraction of an ever-growing migraine and his entire body drowning in raw magic he was able to fight the enemy defending the group and dispatching of the spirits quickly enough leaving only strange glowing balls of lights on the ground.

"What are they" Hawke muttered advancing towards one of them, gently she waved her hand through one of them but it passed through like fire though unlike fire she felt no heat or anything else really.

"They remind me of" Stopping suddenly an idea came to the mind of the Inquisitor, then hesitantly she lifted her hand up and drew upon the power of the Fade channelling it through her hand and then directed it towards the glowing orb. After a few moments, the orb shattered with an ungodly sound and then emerged a memory.

"Bring forth the sacrifice" Corypheus voice echoed around them, loud and demanding the group turned as once their weapons bared believing that the monster had somehow advanced upon them, but after a moment they realised what Justinia had told them, about memories. Nat groaned at the method but otherwise remained silent, why couldn't these people just use a pensive. Then came the next set of memories.

"Run while you can, warn them" It was Justinia this time and she sounded in distress.

"Why are you doing this? You of all people"

It was only once the fourth orb was broken did answers reveal to themselves as suddenly the group was struck by a flash of light and bore witness to memories. It was only for a brief moment, but it was enough, enough for them to watch as the Divine was held in place by Wardens controlled by Corypheus. As she was then held in the air as Corypheus began some type of ritual using her body and a great orb to commit the ritual, they were about to complete it when the door burst open revealing Valeyna confused. In that distraction Justinina pushed aside the orb knocking it to the ground, where without a second, of hesitation the elf had snatched it up in her arms, taking the power for herself and blowing apart the conclave in a single action.

"So your mark did not come from Andraste, it came from the orb Corypheus used in his ritual," Stroud said slowly.

"Corypheus intended to rip open the veil, use the Anchor to enter the Fade and throw the doors open to the black city, not for the old gods, but himself. When you disrupted his plan, the orb bestowed the Anchor upon you instead" Justinia explained.

"Okay, but how does that explain my position," Nat asked concernedly. "The more I think about it the more I can't help but think that I should never have been here, that the portal never would have opened" The spirit nodded.

"The ritual Corypheus created was a powerful one, had it gone according to his plans then things would have gone differently, but when the Inquisitor interrupted the ritual, it changed things. The energy to activate that portal after so long and so far away would have been impossible without some type of great magic"

"It was the ritual," Nat said suddenly. "I get it, the power would have done something else, that portal never would have happened, but with it becoming unstable, no doubt the power was sent in every direction pulling me in. Had I not been there in Egypt, then I wouldn't have been pulled through, I wouldn't be here" Nat leaned back against one of the many rocks allowing it to take his weight, moment by moment he felt his breath escape his body and not simply because of having his magical energy constantly be filled to a ridiculous level putting him to the point of bursting, already he was having to actively keep up as powerful a pulse and as continually as he could just to help mitigate it, but instead because of the realisation.

He turned to the Inquisitor his eyes falling not onto her face as it usually did whenever she may have a question, but instead upon her arm where that mark now sat contently, killing her day by day. Had it been mere chance that had led him there on that day of all days in the ancient sands of Egypt? He would like to say so that it was merely by the merest happenstance a single lone accident that he was here, entirely out of control. It was not unthinkable, many things had been due to accidents, antibiotics was one, yet the father he tried to argue this face the more the same image popped into his head searing into his mind like a dreaded nightmare or darkest fear that haunted you're every waking moment.

It was a small crystal ball, colourless, featureless yet for a smoky and clouded interior, never before had he seen such a thing yet he instinctively knew what it was, old tales of the war, stories of fakes who blathered off stories for their own gain, legends in myth and stories, that lone dreaded word that so many heroes were forced to set out on their journey whether willingly or not.

Fate

The tale was old as time itself and mythology often had beings to showcase this cruel mistress. He had preferred not to believe in superstition, how could things be destined, did their choices not matter, was the entire universe pre-written, every single action, of every single thing, right from the moment anything had existed like some sort of great novel written to the tiniest detail. He wanted not to believe it, but Prophecy was a real art back home, often most were faked but it was still real and those prophecies did exist in the shape of orbs, forecasting the future even if unclear.

He wanted to reject such a claim outright, but something rejected, prophecies took effect whether they were heard or not right. How could he know for certain that he was not being affected now that he was not sent here because of an accident as he would so desperately wish for, but instead because he was connected to this woman to Valeyna? Was it his job to save lives, or could he have walked away and done whatever he wished? So many questions whirred round in his head, so many emotions.

"The portal as you call it still would have activated but it would have only brought the ruins and destruction, you would have known nothing of this world" Nat gulped at the news, he had been so close to avoiding this fate, to having to fight a goddammed war, to leading men and women in the Inquisition, everything could have been avoided, he could have been safe, happy with his life as he went on from duel to duel. Justinia's eyes hardened ever so slightly but her attention was focused on the Inquisitor as she rushed forward full of concern and a growing sense of betrayal.

"What are you talking about" The woman Justinia turned her tired yet still kind eyes filled with the raw emotion of seeing uncounted horrors still giving off a ray of hope to another.

"That is not for me to say, however his fear is strong. You must leave now before you gain its attention if you do not... All will become darkness"

"Can you help us, lead the way?" Valeyna said reluctantly. What was she on about her friend, Nat was the bravest person she knew, there was nothing he could be afraid of right? He was the shield that protected others and the blade that sunk into the heart of others, he was a warrior one who would defend her even if terrified. Yet those thoughts sunk away for Nat whether from the pain or something else seemed even more distant than usual, every step he made forward was marked not with his usual boisterous confidence and glance daring all to challenge him to a death but instead with a soldiers caution and far lighter then t should have been as though the ground would turn to ice and give way.

"I shall, but be warned the Nightmare is not a foe you can best, not with your weaponry. You must do your best to hide your fears if you cannot confront them"

"You mean like those spiders?" The woman shook her head but before she could answer the question on the elf's mind it was done so by Nat as he slowly tightened his grip on his wand so tight that they seemed to bleed from the pores of his skin.

"She means your darkest fears, those things that you suppress itself lest you be left destroyed. It's a coping mechanism for the worst types of horror, those that traumatise you for the rest of your life, and even if it doesn't o that it will still confront other things in your psyche, things you do not dare to face the truth off. It is a true test of bravery, it has already started, those demons we just thought were small fears, those of which you do not like but will not do anything major, worse is yet to come"

"How do you know this?"

"It is the knowledge that one can access more readily at home, and with Solas's teaching, it helps one to understand further. Demons are a raw emotion combine that with psychology back home and one can get a good guess, besides it's already begun to sink its claws into us"

"What, how. Get back you demon" Bull growled hurling his great axe around his head as he searched for one of the smaller demons to slay.

"My point exactly" He sighed turning back towards the place he could feel a rush of energy. "Sweet Merlin what I would do for a Gryffindor right now." He took in another deep breath feeling the air come in and then out again as he exhaled, it was an old practise his teacher had taught him to calm his initial jitters all those years ago, it worked surprisingly but it had been a long time since he had done it, his fear had long since turned towards arrogance in his own power he now realised. He was not going to enjoy this he could tell that instantly.

Without any further hesitation, the group steering itself with the knowledge now preceded began to continue on the path they had found themselves on, starting with descending this incline on the dark green filth covered steps, soon enough they found themselves embroiled in another combat. By now however the combat was relatively short, months of constantly fighting the creatures of the fade meant by that the time any of them had to pop up and reveal their emotional faces, they were just as swiftly cut down. Not even as larger numbers of demons arrived did it prove any hassle for so far only those weak pitiful ones, the ones first encountered at haven that so often simply threw balls of light at them were all that stood in their way.

But it was not the lesser demons they had to feel for as they advanced they felt as the very atmosphere of this place seemed to squeeze around them uncomfortably. Shiver's ran down their spine as the occasional scream echoed from a place long away that they could not gaze at for every time that they dared to stare into the sky their attention was soon focused onto one lone location.

A black rock floating above everything else, alone, distant seemingly guarded in its isolation did nothing to help guard against the curiosity and dread in their hearts. For that was the black city the one of legend, the place where Corypheus and the Architect had supposedly gone to all those years ago when they first unleashed the terror of the blight, infected and turned into monsters. It was strange Nat thought his attention occasionally flickering to towards the city in a stern visage, he had expected the place to feel darker, cruller like some kind of black hole of the vilest of sensations, the heart of all evil, yet instead he could feel nothing at all from that place, no magic, no sensation, for a brief second he paused and considered investigating, whether by a burst of magic or instead by going personally, apparating to the place above and landing.

He shook his head at the thought and then turned to Valeyna many things flying through his mind, old tales of the elves that Solas had taught him and that he had learnt, stories in books, legends from mages when they believed they were solitary on a cold night and to back home to his own lessons. He was not infallible far from it in fact, it could be quite likely that the place above may have powerful defences, hidden most likely to not sending out magic but he would be a fool to approach the area none the less.

"Say, Valeyna, Hawke," He said stopping the other two mages and directing their attention back towards the black city. "Corypheus supposedly wants to get into the Fade correct" The two nodded. "Do you think that the black city is his goal?"

"It would make sense given his history" The voice of Stroud spoke from behind them grabbing their attention. At the site of the city, the man clutched the hilt of his sword tightly and then he quietly said a prayer, blessing himself with what he might have believed to be the makers blessing. "Why do you think some sort of great power resides in there?"

"I could not say, the Fade is powerful enough, any of my people would have been elated to find so much raw power if it didn't kill them at least, but that is beside the point. The truth is the more I look at the city the more I can't help but feel... on edge"

"Perhaps it is because that is one place that the maker once sat?" Stroud replied curiously as with a wave of his wand a set of binoculars appeared in front of the three mages and Stroud, seeing his confused face Nat explained.

"They should allow us to see things closer" Stroud hesitated at the idea his mind whizzing with thoughts of the last man who has gazed upon the golden city so closely, Nat rolled his eyes but then conjured a pair for Varric and the others.

"No thanks' kid, last place I want to see is demon central up close"

"Fair enough, Varrick, Blackwall you interested? You will never get another chance to do this again" Varric gulped but reluctantly took the device slowly putting them to his eyes and gazing into the distance, what he saw however was not what anyone had expected.

Instead of seeing the great city up close and personal as they might have believed, possibly in their heads allowing to see some type of great floating tower in the sky and great bastions that would have held off the legions of darkness, the group could only see what they had previously without the aid of binoculars, a faint outline that did not change even. Nat nodded slowly towards the castle, it was enchanted obviously, designed perhaps like Hogwarts only instead of muggle's seeing a ruin, they could only see that outline.

"Strange, I always thought?" Nat began but then stopped mid-sentence, even in his pain, he could feel fear emanating ever greater now, had they been spotted? He didn't know but all he could do was fight to draw his attention from the old floating rock onto more important matters.

"Thought what?" Hawke asked sternly, she knew from experience that these things were not to be missed; often people had the strangest hunches that proved to be right.

"I don't know why, but the black city reminds me of somewhere"

"I doubt it kid, we're talking about the home of the Maker itself or at least according to the chant these people follow" Nat shook his head at bulls comment, he disagreed vehemently before he could speak however he was overtaken by a sudden chill, not like that of a cold winter where it was fierce and ruthless, killing all like a blizzard but instead the chill that came when one was warm but simply listened and watched at night as thunderclouds roared forth from the heavens and lightning shot aground. Only one word escaped his lips.

"Azkaban"

"Azkaban" Valeyna muttered. Nat blinked and pulled his attention with some fight towards the Inquisitor.

"Not a nice place, never personally visited, but I've seen pictures, heard stories, for some reason, the black city reminds me off it"

"And how does that have to do with the black city, I assume that it was not once the home of our brilliant maker and why do you sound so concerned, is there anything that we should be made aware of" Stroud added hastily as he tore his vision away from that lone settlement in the sky.

"It was a prison" Nat replied in a dark and disturbed tone. Designed to keep the most vile and depraved witches and wizards locked up for crimes they committed, very few survived that place and those that did were never entirely the same afterwards, the guardians that kept them there were... unpleasant shall we say. But it's the supposed history that concerns me, not much is known, something about vile black magic, the ministry led an assault taking over the place centuries ago but what they found..."

"What did they find?" Blackwall asked urgently, Nat looked disgruntled but carried on down the path, now was not the time for distractions, soon they would be dead and the attention of an old powerful demon would befall them but he could still answer a tale or two.

"That's the whole point, we don't know. All that we do is that it was supposedly so terrible that the Ministry not only locked away all records of it but that they also barricaded it at a certain part, no doubt to prevent something or other"

"Really kid, do you have to tell us ghost stories" Bull sweated at the implication his normal fearless mind racing back to that citadel in the sky and then back to the kid. Desperately the large man hoped to see a smile on the kids face, something to reassure him, for the kid to run in front of them and shout surprise, but there was no relief, only the wary glance of his sick friend as though they were sneaking around a sleeping dragon that could awaken at any time and kill them all. Bull hated the Fade.

"I think we should be safe, relatively anyway"

"That doesn't sound convincing" Blackwall scoffed.

"Would you prefer to tell me that my current theory is that the blight has always existed and that the Black City was a prison constructed around it, or that going by the old elven legends our dear Valeyna is so fond off that the floating city could instead be what remains of Arlathan and that if her gods did exist, that they might be imprisoned upon the island by Fen Harel. I do not know what can be found there Blackwall and while my interest is piqued I am not so foolish as to disturb what might slumber within, my theories are all that my thoughts are, theories, things that might be, I have no evidence to prove it one way or another, so take comfort in that. "

"That does not give me any comfort at all" Blackwall muttered but none the less the group pressed forwards through the Fade, one step in front of another, Unfortunately, their troubles in the fade were far from limited to one rapidly dying wizard, the creepy glow of a black city, demons infinite and a woman who as of yet could not be confirmed or denied to be the last Divine, in fact, they often had to slay many more demons as they continued on and with far more gusto and speed then they would usually do so as their mind focused on what possible demon could be so powerful as to cause such a travesty, even Hawks and Stroud's argument was often interrupted by new battle or by a sudden silence that seemed to blanket them at times sending collective shivers down the mortals backs as they advanced. And then it spoke.

"Ah, we have visitors" It was a dark tone, a malicious hateful one burdened with ancient malice that spoke of power and death, of the dark things that hid in the night. So great was it that the moment it spoke Valeyna reacted stiffly, her body quailed in terror s memories flashed, she knew that voice, but how was it possible how could Corypheus have made it to the Fade, they had destroyed Adamant, but the Archdemon. She paled her heartbeat quickening so fast that it started to physically ache. "A foolish little girl comes to steal the fear that I so kindly lifted from her shoulders. You should have thanked me and left your fear where it lay, forgotten. You think the pain will make you stronger? What fool filled your mind with such drivel? The only one who grows stronger from your fears is me. But you are a guest here in my home, by so all means; let me return what you have forgotten"

"Show yourself demon" Nat's voice rung out, his wand glowing with a baleful red glare as he tried to focus on the source of the voice, that was the demon there was no doubt of that, but where was it and why decide not to interfere. "Go on speak, you pitiful snivelling little coward, why continue to hide in the shadows if you know we are here, why send your pitiful minions to fight?" He spoke louder this time hoping to draw the enemy from its place, force it to speak, once more but again he was met only by a deafening silence that surrounded him, a silence that was only interrupted by demons as they advanced on their positions throwing them into yet another fight.

Sneering at the last corpse of a demon, Valeyna marched up the next set of stairs doing her best to keep her eyes away from the sights around her. Only now had she realised it when she looked past the crystals and instead to the giant stone artwork that dotted broken and crumbled bridges all around, the mutated and horror born shapes of demons that she had seen seemingly pressed and made into sculpture. The easiest to spot was Desire, made abundantly clear by the horns and the two large breasts that dotted the crumbling side of a fortress ruin as it's stone fell downward past the earth and instead into the void.

The voice spoke again.

"Perhaps I should be afraid, facing the most powerful members of the Inquisition" A dark mocking chuckle resounded them. "Like Blackwall, there's nothing like a Grey Warden. And you are nothing like a Grey Warden"

"I'll show you a warden's strength beast" Blackwall snarled.

"The Qunari will make a lovely host for one of my minions, or maybe I shall ride his body myself"

"I'd like to see you try" Once again there was another dark chuckle from the creature and though Bull tried his best he found himself lost in a living nightmare as seemingly out of nowhere his vision changed.

No longer was he in the fade but instead he was back in Thedas, only he was not seeing through his own eyes but instead he seemed o hover behind his shoulders, unable to escape or move, only sit and watch in horror as a demon approached him gently putting it's hand on his face before then with a lurch it threw itself inside Bull's body. Bull's eyes glowed a hateful green before then stretching in an oddly delicate way, he counted his fingers and then his toes before then smirking as it took a step forth a hideous grin. From there he was forced to watch in silence unable to scream in horror as one by one the demon slaughtered every single one of his chargers, they tried to fight back but it was helpless, they all fell quickly, suffering painful brutal deaths as they were skewered on his horns, pulled apart with his bare hand or cleaved him two with his axe, the worst was yet to come as with the end of the battle he advanced towards a terrified young girl her skin covered in the blood of her parents that he had just slaughtered, Bulls face grinned and that was the last thing the man saw as he clenched his eyes tightly but it was not enough to hide the screams.

Suddenly a deep breath left his body and once more he was in the realm of the fade, concerned face of his friend and lover. Friend, he glanced at Valeyna not knowing how to describe her but all the same he accepted the offered hand of Blackwall throwing himself up off the ground and back into the fray.

"What was that?"

"Mental manipulation" Nat responded. "The demon put images in your head to torture you, making you watch fears, given what it said I assumed it wasn't a very nice adventure"

"Nice" Bull exploded furiously, then quicker than all the others could even react the man held the child by his throat lifting him into the air as he squeezed tightly feeling as the supple thin neck of a child at least half his size easily began to be crushed.

"Bull" Valeyna screamed rushing towards the two.

"Nice" Bull yelled, so angrily that it could only be interpreted as a death threat, of the man promising to kill the one that would dare say that such an experience was pleasant in any way. Nat backed up at the yell drawing his wand on the man as best he could while also trying to hide such action, the man was not unused to being angry all of them had seen plenty of times how the man liked to be hit at with a stick, using the pain he felt to cloud his mind and deal with the emotional stress, only that was after the fact when they were safe at Haven with no threat of demons coming to strike them down. Now though, Nat only needed to glance around to see the ever-increasing horrors, to feel as his hair continued to stand on end as a cold wind blew around, pushing the man into more and more fear which in turn caused an angry reaction as he subconsciously destroyed anything that dare threaten him.

"It wasn't real Bull, whatever the demon showed you, it's not you, it won't happen. Calm down"

"Calm down" Bull grunted furiously this time focusing on the wizard his eyes narrowing. "How can you say it is not real, I saw it I felt it."

"It's not real" Nat repeated insistently looking to the others for help, was this again the plan of the fear demon, to stop them not by weak little demons that it had at its disposal feeding on scraps but instead to turn them against one another, using their own insecurities to deal the death-dealing final blow? It would make sense already Hawke and Stroud glanced at each other suspiciously as a rift formed between them so quickly and simply over the Templar's, Blackwall himself looked troubled at his secret being put out there for all others to know. "When we get back to Skyhold we'll deal with the problem but for now calm down?"

"Calm down, is that what you call it, that thing wants' to take over my body, to kill and slaughter like a beats and you want me to calm down" The grip on Nat's throat tightened to the point that the boys pale face was growing paler yet despite this Nat remained as calm as he could. It would be of little use struggling, and the whole struggling and waving about was again pointless, Bull was too strong for him to deal with, a veritable giant now enhanced by his animal instincts.

"What will killing me achieve?" Bull glared, unable to think straight however he just kept the boy there still even as the Inquisitor rush overthrowing her smaller frame at his body in an attempt to knock him over to the ground. It was of no use though the woman while beautiful was far too lithe and instead simply rebounded onto the floor with a thump. The man turned his eyes towards the Inquisitor.

"Fucking mages, always ruining shit" Noticing the rising hatred in the man's eyes to the way the man seemed to grab his axe as he then turned his attention onto Hawke, the last and final mage who so caught up in her argument with the warden was now entirely unaware of the lumbering bestial man.

"Bull Put me down" Nat commanded fiercely moving his wand directly so that it was now pointed directly at the man's turned face forcing the man's attention back to him. Fear flashed across his face at the sudden weapon that was now aimed at him but he tightened his grip a second later. "Before I turn you into Swiss fucking cheese" Nat carried on the glow of his wand becoming all-consuming leaving the Inquisitor alone as he instead dealt with the boy. Bull glanced downwards fearfully his eyes locked onto the glowing wand mere centimetres from his face. There would be no avoiding the blast at this range and he had seen what the kid could do with his magic, he breathed in his rage and terror running through him freely, he had the strength, he could snap the boys neck like a twig, allow him to crumple to the floor like a discarded. He had to strike fast before the kid even had a chance to react, it would be relatively simple enough and he had killed enough Tevinter's to know that even with all their power that not even they could summon a spell faster then he could snap his neck. Sensing the situation he applied the slightest bit of pressure before all of a sudden his entire body froze his vision going black and all thought processes stopped.

A bright blast struck him suddenly in the face, knocking him out cold his large frame crumpling to the floor like a bag of potatoes letting the wizard go.

"Nat" Valeyna yelled rushing over to the prone frame of the wizard. He wasn't in very good condition, the blood that he had been spitting out continuously as the sheer amount of magic in this place swarmed in and out destroying his very body on a fundamental level as his body did all it could to prevent it had been stopped entirely as it was instead then forced to prevent the squeezing of his neck and allow air through a tiny gap. The result was that his skin was now clammy and his breath was so deeply laboured that he was barely able to speak for a few minutes as he tried to recover. One look at his skin, however, showed the consequence as it was now dry and flaking, brushing away as a strange wind passed forcing a painful moan from the wizard as his now raw skin came into contact with the elements while in other places like his neck it was now a horrific sight of raw muscle that was seen as the strength had wasted away his flesh. In all truth, it was as though he had become some sort of zombie.

Gradually after given some time he turned to Bull, the large man was sleeping on the floor, whether he dreamed or not couldn't be said but he most certainly looked more relaxed then he had peacefully. Nat smiled somewhat and rubbed his neck hissing as he felt the lack of skin, that hurt like hell but other than that he said nothing.

"I'm fine. It's the fear, people act out angrily when they're afraid, no doubt Bull mistook me" Though he explained gently Valeyna couldn't ignore that flash on his face, for a brief moment she had seen it flash by. Fear, as he was held in the arms of Bull Nat was on the verge of death, so easily killed when faced by the greater strength of Bull, yet it was not Nat that she truly felt terrified for, at least not in physical health. He had tried to kill Bull, barely he had stopped it at the last moment and only her sharp angles was able to detect as the colour of the spell changed at the last second, but the fact remained, Nat had nearly just killed Bull.

"What about Bull" Nat glanced down towards the hulk of flesh, the man was breathing, physically he was fine he had only hit him with a stunner, but he couldn't help but wonder. Should he kill him here and now? The man had just tried to kill, him, had just charged him intending to crush his windpipe and leave him to die in the fade and all for what, because of a bad vision, how, was the man that foolish to not be able to take a joke, did he rage every time there was a demon and he hadn't noticed in the slightest. What if it happened again, sure he could just down the man with stunners as he just had done, but what was to prevent this activity time and again when they reached back to Thedas.

"He'll be fine, he' simply unconscious for the moment. We will need to wake him up, we aren't going to get through the fade without him and it wasn't his fault, he acted on instinct" Despite him saying those words Valeyna couldn't help but feel doubt grow in her, a small amount of fear had turned the man into the one who had nearly killed her and her friend.

"But what if he tries" Nat stopped and patted her gently, then with a groan he got up and walked to the downed form of Bull where with a quick wave of his wand he enervated the man, bringing him back to consciousness where he sat up suddenly his eyes wide.

"Kid" He cried his eyes settling wildly upon the boy he had just tried to kill. "Shit" He swore upon seeing the raw pulsing muscle. "Are you okay?"

"Just a scratch, nothing serious. That demon bastard is lurking here and is determined to keep us trapped, I want the fucker dead." Then with a smile, Nat offered a hand to Bull helping him up once again from the ground. "You with me" Bull nodded nervously his attention focused on the throat, for like a crash of ships it was a horrid thing, that was truly revolting yet he could not glance away, instead focusing entirely on it. When Nat coughed again it was much to the concern of the man as the damage done by Bull now allowed blood to physically pour out of small cracks and crevices like a broken vase coating the Kid's neck in small red tendrils.

"You not going to fix that," Bull asked. Nat shook his head saving his voice, they were out of health potions anyway and to heal this condition would take more time then they had. Unfortunately, it wasn't long after leaving that place that the booming voice of the demon came back again, with full force as it chose a different target to mock and belittle.

"Once again Hawke is in danger because of you Varrick, You found the red Lyrium, you brought Hawke here"

"Just keep talking smiley"

As they continued to push through the fade, inch by bloody inch, the group came across several old journals and diaries each describing events long ago from, mages that had been trapped here against their will, to Templar's who had been unlucky enough to stay into this part of the Fade when they slept, becoming easy food for the demon to feast and dig its teeth into as it ripped it to shreds leaving nothing but raw bones, corpses and occasionally a flickering light of where a soul had once been lighting the way as both a beacon and a trap to anyone else who might find themselves lost in the nightmares realm.

"Warden Stroud. How must it feel to devote your whole life to the Wardens, only to watch them fall? Or worse to know that you were responsible for their destruction when the next blight comes, will they curse your name?"

"With the makers blessing we will end this wretched beast" Once again the creature laughed ruefully hiding back into the shadows as it watched the pitiful mortal beings in its realm squabble and bicker as they attempted to find a way out of this place.

"Did you think you mattered Hawke, did you think anything you ever did mattered? You couldn't even save your city, how could you hope to strike down a god, you're a failure and your family will die, knowing it"

"Of course a fear demon will know where to hurt us most, come we must ignore it" Valeyna smirked at Hawke a small amount of hope blooming in her chest as the woman so easily ignored the threat that seemed to strike down into their very hearts, twisting like a hot knife, unable to be removed, if she could ignore it then so could the others. Finally, as they defeated the last of the demons, later on, all attention was then trained onto the last member of their retinue, the one who had not been spoken off, there as some curiosity in the Inquisitor's eye as she waited for the speech. What could Nat have been afraid off she wondered, there couldn't be much, not after what he had faced what he had done, he was the one to inspire fear, to make himself stronger, yet even as she thought this, the booming voice returned and Nat paled to a white Valeyna had never seen before.

"Where do we even start with you wizard? How does it feel, to live behind a thin veil of lies knowing that every single thing about your life could be undone with such a pull of a thread? How do you think that your companions will react when I tell them the truth? You are no hero, you are a scared lonely little boy driven to constant desperation in your endless state of panic and fear, your every action in your life is not out of desire or any other emotion, only fear." The voice chuckled darkly as Nat tried to fight the intrusion into his mind, but it was no use, the sheer pain he was in combined with the necessity of concentrating magic on preserving himself as he was torn apart from magic was too much. "Yes, I feel it now, you are so filled with it, a veritable banquet of nightmares, fear and worry, so much so that these others you are allied with are nothing but scraps, I shall enjoy consuming you, but first let us reveal the truth shall we"

"Truth what are you speaking about demon?" Valeyna roared but only the dark chuckling tone of the demon returned its laughter even more terrifying as it felt the fear and anguish grow within the child. It was inevitable there was no way the boy could prevent its intrusion from knowing everything it so desired, the defences were indeed strong, admirable really, but when the magic that helped sustain those defences were forced to move aside from simply preventing the boy from breaking god into nothing but dust and ash, there was no chance that they would survive against the demon's assault allowing it to gleam in lust as it saw something that it could.

"My dear Inquisitor the truth of his origins, you do know how he has lied to you and the others all this time do you not, how he has taken you for fools, using you for his own purposes" Valeyna scoffed, how was that believable in any way but when the laughter seemed to darken even more shaking the ground and sending a blizzard up her spine, paralysing her as it worked into the deepest cracks of her very being, wriggling down until it found those floors and made a nest in them, growing them ever deeper forcing her mind to think unkind thoughts she could not help but turn to her friend slowly.

"Nat tell the thing to piss off" Blackwall shouted but it was to no avail, Nat was frozen in place seemingly glaring at something but it was weak, pathetic and it soon died down as more skin flaked away and drifted off into the wind, the demon spoke once more.

"Do you think anyone will care if you return homeboy? We both know there will be no celebration, no cheer, your teacher is dead driven into an early grave by war and seeing his student slipping further and further away, your father cares for you not, you are merely a tool to carry on the family name, as for your beloved sister, she will fade away so subsumed in her own life that she will leave you joining the rest of your siblings for your mother"

At the mention of his mother there was a twist of emotion on the boys face, anger, hatred, loathing just from her position Valeyna felt as without warning magic exploded from the boy's body, so powerful that it obliterated the nearby rocks turning them into, well nothing she realised with shock, there was nothing left, no ash, no dust no trace of the rock they had been obliterated removed from this non-reality. Around him, as the earth shook, and the elements seemed to howl, lightning crashing with incredible intensity blasting apart rocks and old bridges, fire once again ravaging the local area as it subsumed with a great ferocity like a great wildfire and a sudden amount of water that thrust violently in the distance drowning a great many spider demons that came towards them did a great stream of magic flow from him.

It was brilliant, a powerful light purple in nature but greater and more wondrous purple then she had ever seen in her life, powerful, royal, mysterious and brimming with the power of the arcane that was untapped, and hidden behind a wall of anger that held it black from obliterating.

"Don't you dare" The words hissed from Nat's mouth.

"Or what, you'll destroy me, like how you failed to kill your mother, what have I to be afraid of a scared lonely little child with no friends, no life, no future. Come accept your fate and die peacefully, it is better than facing what waits for you, even if you should somehow escape my realm and defeat Corypheus, the others will turn on you. You will be a pariah, hunted in every corner of the world, a word of evil on everyone's lips. You are a Tempest, after all, the great and powerful storm that rolls in and destroys all it touches, how many more are you going to kill? How many lives ruined and cut short in your wrath, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, millions? Do you not even care?"

"Nat" Valeyna's voice called out but to her horror, he did not react instead stuck there his eyes locked as if staring into space or more accurately visions. "Nat it isn't real, it's just made up" She yelled again but it was to no avail, nor a word got through.

Nat felt his limbs and body go cold as he watched those cursed images in front of him, there was no escaping him though, he was too weak and unlike Bull, the demon did not play on something that could happen, but instead would happen. It was right and he knew it, nobody would care if he got back home, not his father the two of them only spoke when needed and their relation was predicated on a business model then any attempt at love and affection, teachers, Flitwick was gone, dead as grief overtook him, friends? He had pushed those aside for power, to become stronger and do whatever he desired, his sister? She was better off without him in her life, he was nothing but an anchor, something that was dragging her down, her worry on him constantly unable to do something for herself as she worried, it was selfish of him to return and put that pressure back on. As for his mother, she was a whore and bitch, a person he desired dead beyond anything else. He growled at the memory, why had he allowed pathetic care of his father to cloud his judgment, she had been his at that moment, defeated, beaten, on the floor at death's door her eyes pleading with him to let him live. His magic had flared about him desiring more than anything to kill her for vengeance, it was the right thing to do, the correct thing, but he had gazed back into the eyes of his father, it had been a mistake, he ever should have looked back, he should have snapped her neck when he had the chance.

He chuckled to himself his mind fraying as it tried it's best to hold onto what sanity reasoning with itself. Nobody cared back home and nobody cared either, Leliana was spy, no doubt she simply used a polite term to try and get him to trust her so she could sink in the dagger at the best possible moment, Josephine was the same using him in threats no doubt t cause fear in politics as for Cullen, he had seen the glances, the fear and disgust when he saw him. He had butchered his brothers and sisters in the templar order taking revenge for those who could not. The other's no doubt saw him in similar lights, Bull saw him as an arrogant young mage, Blackwall saw him as dangerous and able to mess with the minds of those around him, Varric saw him as a child who needed protecting, Sera feared him for his power and was only kept away as his retinue of slaughter carried on, Cassandra was no doubt horrified and saw him as a less evil, one to be destroyed once everything was over, Vivienne was a political opponent who wanted to see him and all her opponents beneath her feet, Dorian also likely saw him as a threat, one who could take his place if he was not taken out, as for Cole he was an emotion given form, prone to such behaviour in some vain effort to fix him. Solas, on the other hand, was his enemy, one that again was likely fighting for his own gain or for his master Fen Harel, weakening the world and making it ripe for conquest.

That left the Inquisitor; she was no doubt the worst of all of them in the group. She was supposed to be naive, a young elf woman who was totally out of her depth, leading an organisation that was gaining in power and authority, she should have struggled drastically, she might have even had a coup thrown against her, but that had not happened, instead, she was still the Inquisitor leading the fight against Corypheus. How did he know that the woman was merely hiding her abilities from them, it was possible after, he was doing just that, but that wasn't the main concern, instead it was her behaviour and her seeming fascination around him? He had noticed the way she looked at him, the sweet smiles, at first they had been more sisterly in nature, wishing him well yet as time passed especially after he returned there was a constant panic in her eyes when he left as if she didn't feel safe or she felt that he may never return. It was a stupid thing, one that was no doubt a trap created to make him feel something for her, to pull him into her power where she could manipulate him to his will. Those needless hugs, the cries of affection when he returned, they were all lies, the woman did not care about him in the slightest, he was a weapon, one to be used against her enemies and discarded the moment he became of no use to her. No not discarded he knew, betrayed and killed, he was a threat one in which is feats already threatened her position and she felt threatened by it no doubt.

His eyes glanced over to the woman narrowing dangerously behind his glasses, just when would she betray him, after all this was done and when Corypheus was defeated, is that when she would plunge the knife into his neck or would she do it earlier, when she knew that victory had been achieved in this war and it was a matter of times.

He couldn't trust her, or anyone else as no doubt they would also attempt. It was at that moment that whether by the demons nudging or his own that he realised how terrible a mistake he had made. He had allowed them to get close to him, how often had he listened to Varrics stories, or spent more time than was necessary with Leliana and the others or the amount of effort he had put into creating arms for the Inquisition to slay their opponents with. He had not needed to do any of that, all he merely had to do was kill whatever was needed and when this all blew over to learn the language of the elves and go on his own way. Instead, he had taken on the responsibility, becoming a leader, someone that people looked up to only to have him betray then as he left them to die at other hands.

It was dangerous, far too dangerous to carry on.

"Betrayal" The demon smiled behind its lair as it finally found that it had desired above all else. "How interesting, I would have imagined failure but betrayal makes sense does it not" Nat focused his attention back onto the demon this time speaking to him directly for a moment before then becoming loud enough for everybody else to help. "How predictable your deepest fear's are, the Bulls of being taken over and losing control, of the dwarves fear to lose that it cared about most of all, to Blackwall who will never become that which he desires, to that of the wardens and his fear to lose that which he cars most of all and to Hawke who fears failure for the torment that she has wrought upon the world with her actions. That leaves us with you little girl, how does it feel, knowing that you will never find anybody who will love you that you will grow old and die alone, unloved by another. You will spend your entire life throwing yourself at person after person, giving them access to all of you simply so you can have a chance at love when in truth it is a fleeting thing that you lust after all else as you focus your attention on a new target. How hilarious it is then to know the fear of the one your desires now fall upon will only continue this trend, for you cannot get closer. It is of no use, they will never accept you, never love you. You remind them too much of things they desire to be got rid of, he would kill you before he ever loved you".

"Silence" Valeyna demanded harshly. "You know nothing" Another chuckle rumbled forwards this time only instead of the arrogance that normally accompanied by it the voice seemed victorious.

"We shall see Inquisitor, even if you escape, the seeds are planted, your victory will be like ash in your mouth when it comes to pass" Then with a high raucous laughter as though it had won the entire war at that moment the presence of the demon vanished from their minds leaving the group free, it was then at that moment that Nat fell to one knee. Valeyna rushed towards him only to recoil in shock as she saw as more and more of his body seemed to turn to dust and float away in the wind.

"Good riddance" Nat whispered doing his best to brush away the demon from his mind however when he felt the Inquisitor kneel beside him her eyes red as though she was on the verge of the tears he couldn't help but feel angry. Even now she attempted with this charade, believing that she cared for him, it was if he actually meant something, in truth she was no doubt preparing him for the slaughter, at the right moment she would sacrifice him without any hesitation against Corypheus, he would weaken it and then he would die allowing for the woman to take the ultimate victory.

He hissed angrily at the thought of such a thing, he could not allow such a thing to happen, not to him. With a shove, he moved the inquisitor away and rose to his feet ignoring the sensation of what could only be described as having your skin ripped off with a sanding machine whilst you were also electrocuted and burnt alive. He focused on that pain allowing it to fuel his growing anger and hatred, he would not allow this woman to manipulate him, he was not his father if she tried he would kill her.

"Let's go" And so with malice in his heart as his mind span around with all the possibilities of how he was going to kill this thing, he did not notice how the Divine from her position above looked down fearfully at the two of them, a growing sense of trepidation as the heart of the Inquisition was skewered.

"Come you must go quickly, the longer you linger here the greater the hold the demon will get a grip on you, if you continue as you are you shall not have the strength to refuse" Nat send a venomous look at that woman his hatred boiling inside of him, how he hated the way she seemed to look down on them, as if she was better than them, of course, the demon was playing on their emotions; that was obvious, but the demon could not play on things that were not there which meant all that was said was true. Blackwall he could tell was also angry but more so because he likely believed his identity as a warden stolen by the creature than for anything else and Bull did not like the prospect of becoming nothing more than a meat puppet for some demon to run amok in, he would need to be hit harder when he returned.

"We know, now show us the way or be gone "He spat at the woman, but if she took offence at the tone she did not show it instead only looking sadly at him, for what reason he couldn't discern but t angered him even father until finally after he had once again ruthlessly dispatched another wave of demons he was about to turn and yell at her only to then be stopped mid place as he took in the sight of a giant creature staring at them.

Nightmare was what it was called and it was a very good name Nat thought as he took on its humungous form. It was shaped like a spider only far larger than even the dreaded Acromantula that lurked inside the forbidden forest, at a minimum it had to be at least the size of two maybe even three double-decker buses stacked on top of one another, towering above them with its great hairless body. Covered in small spots each at minimum the size f footballs he could not help but wonder if they were merely spotted ore instead several eyes to see all directions out off. Its large bulbous frame shook back and forth as green lightning struck it yet did nothing instead the demon laughed its vast mandibles clicking excitedly as it caught sight of them, the twisting and almost flesh but also rock-like appearance of its skin presented a hard outer case that would not be broken by any weapon, and when combined with the seemingly limitless supply of skeletal remains plastered at its feast as though it had partaken in a great feast including those of beings far larger then itself did it promote the message of death.

Despite the terrifying-looking appearance of the creature though it was the power that radiated off it that scared Nat, though he kept his wand raised on the monster ready to unleash a spell, yet even so he was unable to stop the flashes of memories that came to him. He saw everything, every time he had been afraid memories he had believed he had pushed back beyond anything, forgetting them entirely came to the fore. Whether it was the time he was curdled in a corner terror filling him as he heard the angry and heavy footfalls of boots over the a soft carpet as his father returned home to each time in the duelling pit as a spell he had dogged nearly took his life ending it forever to many other memories including when he had faced the dragon as it had nearly possessed him, taking his body as his own using it for vile and tainted purposes.

Nat tried to push through the memories doing his best to ignore them, what did it matter that the dragon had nearly won he argued with himself, he had gained victory and the dragon lay dead by his hands, it's body now put to his desires how he wished. The thought of such a mighty beast being laid low at his hands filled him up again with a renewed sense of confidence, not just anybody could have killed such a beast, only those who had the power and mental fortitude could do so, and no doubt it was the same this beast.

The demon was trying to play with his emotions, all the things it said was true of course, it did not have to lie to them, but on the other hand, it was gaining an advantage by forcing their thoughts against their will spreading unnatural amounts of fear where it did not spring naturally, no doubt in doing so it was expending its energy as it faced opponents who for the first time in a while resisted it even if only slowly.

"Finally, you have come" The monster cackled turning its whole spider-like body to face them it's multiple eyes each locking onto a different member of the party with a venomous glare seemingly trying to pick out which was the weakest and who was the most dangerous threat. Nat coughed resolutely spitting up more of his internal organs, even now he could feel them degrading quickly, breaking down from the sheer amount of excess magic he was drowning in.

"Well, we weren't exactly planning on leaving without saying goodbye" He quipped.

"A rather pitiful attempt at false bravery little bird, perhaps you should leave it to your lion cousins instead" Nat snorted and grinned through the pain.

"What and let them take all the fun? No I the pleasure of killing you personally. I never did like spiders" The demon growled its full attention on the boy not noticing how the others slowly began to move, fanning out in a discreet as manner as possible. "You can no longer hide, either from your allies or yourself" Nat shrugged his shoulder pushing the oncoming fear and allowing his memory of killing the dragon to fill him up again. The demon noticed this instantly. "Do you seriously believe that you can hide behind bravado and arrogance forever, we both know you would run at the first real threat, the only reason you haven't is because you allow faith in your own ability, your arrogance to keep you in place, and what good did it do for your subordinates. Did you know that in their last moment's they died in absolute fear, did you see their memories as they were stuck down there in those caves, praying to their maker that you would come for them, did you know that their last thoughts were of the dark, they didn't even see you in the end, they thought your voice a dark dream. They were a delightful little snack"

"You ate them?" Nat glared at the creature feeling his anger once again come into fruition, but it was of no use for as soon as he felt his power radiate did he feel a sharp pain in his side sending him crumbling to the ground.

"I wonder how I should consume you? When you have reached the point of all despair, or instead allow you to waste away, no matter you will not escape and your power is all but gone, the last dedicated to your very survival, you are abandoned little wizard, all lost and alone, how does it feel" Nat did not respond instead he merely stared at the monster that lay before him, even now it could sense it's victory over them and it was not just it but also the mages. Valeyna looked back towards her friend who even now wasting away, gaunt and bony appearing far more like a corpse and skeleton then an actual human being was once again rising using his sheer hatred of the monster to keep him going through everything. But would it be enough she feared, this was no ordinary demon and not one of them had the power to do anything before she could say anything however that was when she felt a gentle arm touch her shoulder.

Floating past her, the once mortal guise that the spirit had taken on of the Divine now nothing more than a giant glowing gold shape passed her by slowly gliding into the air. Power flowed around her, changing the very tides of the fade to such an extent that the fear that Valeyna had felt filling her heart vanished instantly as it was replaced with hope, the hope of escaping of seeing her friend live, of defeating Corypheus, but more so, a hope of defeating her fear. She would prove the demon wrong, but there was no time to say goodbye.

"If you would tell Leliana "I am sorry I failed you too" Then with a burst of light more brilliant and pure then anything any of them had seen before shining with a brilliant golden hue that blinded them all temporarily forcing them to avert their eyes, the spirit of the Divine burst forth with such power, striking the demon clean and filling it with its energy to such an extent that with a tremendous roar of pain and a mighty crash the demon lay dead. But not all was over for as the main host of the demon died it's tremendous power weakened a few moments later the distinct sound of a gunshot filled by the scent of power entered the noses of the group. Valeyna turned her gaze onto Nat as he stood there his hand shaking as he lowered his pistol his eyes set upon a smaller demon that had been paralysed temporarily with the light but to her horror was not dead.

"Quickly, while it is still blind" Nat shouted his voice weak as he fell to a knee. Taking the warning, the group acted as one, all of them rushing towards the demon as still blinded and as reckless as the attack was, they charged and brought the full weight of their power down whether that was with weapon or magic. All as one the strikes hit on the unprepared aspect killing it before it even had a chance to recover and give back a fight, slaying it where it was it's corpse joining that of the larger host. With their path now cleared the group wasted no time in dashing as quickly as was possible in their dishevelled state but before they could reach the glowing portal that signalled their freedom, from their cursed place, the spider body badly burnt and injured but ultimately still alive rose itself on it's battered legs and stood between them.

"Move" Valeyna roared unleashing a powerful blast of fire allowing for the other's top quickly rush past as the demon recovered from the attack, but it was too late as the spider was faster and move again in front of them staring at them no longer with typical arrogance but with an unfettered rage that promised unfathomable torture.

"Stroud what are you doing" Hawke yelled watching as her long-time friend with only a brief prayer rushed forward his sword raised.

"Go while there is still time"

"But"

"Now Hawke, there is no time to argue" With a solemn nod the others took the offer taking the small amount of time Stroud had given them and rushed towards the portal jumping through back into the mortal realm back to the centre of Adamant and closed the rift behind them.

"We did it" Valeyna yelled her attention gazing to the battered remains and then back to the thankfully empty sky, the archdemon had fled though where to they did not know. "Nat are" She stopped mid-sentence her eyes going wide as the boy collapsed on the ground in a heap his eyes closed and his body looking more like a charred corpse.

Darkness took the wizard.