Chapter 35 – Tread carefully.

Hello child.

You don't know me.

Not yet.

But you will.

Makatza yawned and opened her eyes weakly, 'god I feel like crap,' she said to herself shaking her head. Something wasn't right as she looked around the ground was closer to her than usual. She couldn't seem to stand up properly, like she had lost control of her balance and legs. With another yawn she shrugged and closed her eyes, 'I'm just going to have a nap...'

-x-

'Merrill take one of the horses and ride back to the city, grab everyone, send a message to the Dalish, we need all the eyes and hands we can get!' Isabela said in a panic. 'She can't have gotten very far... we need to find her, I'll start looking, I'll be back here in an hour. Cover that blasted mirror as well,' she said in a hiss. Merrill did as she asked and began to unbuckle one of the horses from the wagon as Isabela ran into the forest, she looked at the floor looking for some sort of tracks. 'Come on Katza...' she said to herself, looking around she could see the devastation of the young woman's mana everywhere, she had literally absorbed the life from most the living things in the area. 'Makers...' Isabela said as she trod on dry, dead leaves.

After forty minutes of searching fruitlessly Isabela resigned herself to walking back to the picnic area, it took her another fifteen minutes to get there and when she did she arrived to mayhem. It looked like everyone had come, even Anders. Hawke spotted Isabela from where he was trying to hold back Fenris from Merrill who was in tears, 'Izzy!' He called. Sebastian and Aveline ran up to her.

'What's going on? Merrill said it was urgent,' Aveline said looking around. 'What the hell happened here? Why are most things dead?'

'This is Makatza's magic!' Fenris spat as he pushed Garrett away from him. 'What happened here?'

Isabela held up her hands until they all stopped talking and asking questions. 'Look, I don't know the logistics of it but it seems that Makatza got caught in the ritual that Merrill was trying with that mirror. We weren't trying to be a part of it we were looking for flowers for Orana-'

'It searched her out!' Merrill sobbed as Varric comforted her. Sebastian shared a worried look with Aveline, the Prince was heavily concerned, he hadn't seen her since her birthday and something must have happened at the Château as Fenris seemed most perturbed about her safety. 'It went for her magic!' She howled wiping her eyes.

Anders was crouched down looking at some of the dead foliage, it was patchy and seemed random. 'Hawke,' he said calling him over leaving Aveline to get the story from Isabela. 'She's drained the life from plants and it looks like small rodents but you can see patches, like there and there, that must have been where Isabela and Merrill were standing. She picked her sources, some of these flowers aren't touched and they're barely bloomed, these ones on the other hand have and look to be at the latter stage of the cycle and they've been totally drained,' he says quietly. 'She chose the dead and dying.'

'The mirror was trying to siphon her mana so she took it from other sources?' Hawke looked over to where the mirror was covered and walked over uncovering it ignoring the other's protests. 'It's cracked,' he says examining it. 'She overloaded it, broke it. Broke the spell,' he swears under his breath. 'Then what happened?'

'She dropped to the floor like a stone and when I went over to see if she was okay, she wasn't...quite herself,' Isabela mumbled coming to the crux of the problem.

'What do you mean?' Fenris asked with a fear.

The thought that Makatza might have become an abomination crossed everyone's minds and simultaneously the colour drained from their faces. 'Well, she …. she's ….' Isabela sighed and crossed her arms. 'She's a wolf,' she said bluntly.

'I'm sorry Riviani,' Varric laughed putting a finger in his ear and twiddling it around. 'I must have heard you wrong, did you just say that Petal, is a wolf?' He slaps his knee as if he'd been let in to some massive joke. 'Oh Riviani, you've really got a sense of humour there.'

'You can't be serious,' Hawke said, Merrill burst into a fresh wave of tears and had sunk to the ground.

Isabela growled and pointed at the mirror, 'hey! I would love nothing more than to be joking around right now but I'm not. Katza is in trouble, she's a goddamn wolf. I turned to get a blanket and poof she was gone, I've tried looking for her and I can't get a track nor a hair or any sign of where she went! I'm scared Hawke, I want my best friend back,' she said her voice breaking. Garrett walked over to his lover and wrapped his arms around her in comfort.

'Ssh, ssh, it's okay. We'll find her,' he assures. 'It's not unheard of for mages to change shape,' he says softly as he looks at Anders who nods. 'I'm sure it's just a skill lapse,' he adds as he strokes her hair.

There was the sound of hooves and another couple of horses arrived, 'where is my Lethallan?' Silvanus demanded before he even dismounted. Hawke swore under his breath and passed Isabela over to Merrill.

'Uncle, before you-'

'Where is she? What has tha' witch done now?' He demanded as he pulled out a blade and pointed it at Merrill. Luckily the other rider was the Keeper and had quickly come over placing a hand on Silvanus' arm.

'Easy, clan brother,' she said softly. 'We do not know what had happened here,' Marethari spoke softly and patted his arm making him lower his weapon. 'This is not a time for rash words or actions,' she looks at Hawke. 'What is the problem? Merrill said that a ritual had gone wrong and your cousin, our Bellanaris Elgar had been harmed?' Hawke sighed and began to retell the story keeping an eye on Silvanus who's rage was beginning to practically roll off him. Marethari sighed and rubbed her eyes, 'a Bellanaris Elgar doesn't just take the mana from living things, she absorbs it. Say she was to take the mana from another mage, a great amount so to speak, she would taste the skills that mana had been shaped into. It's another reason they're so dangerous, without the years of practice most mages delve into their craft she would simply learn them in a few months, maybe weeks depending on the amount of mana she had taken.'

'She's siphoned magic before,' Merrill said with a sniff. 'When we were in the fade, she had ta drain mana ta get rid of the Pride Demon wit' her fire,' she revealed.

'Yes, yes I felt that,' Garrett agreed. 'In the fade she's linked to every mage in the world,' he says in realisation.

'She is too powerful for her own good,' Marethari sighs. 'Tis a reason they do not live long-'

'Nae! No one will harm my Lethallan,' Silvanus threatens in fear. 'I will nae have her taken from me again,' he says daring one of them to say otherwise.

'Uncle,' Garrett said softly. 'We are not going to hurt her, we all care for her and just want her safe and home that's all,' he reassures. 'Right, now that there's a few of us here, we'll split into groups,' he whistles and Bubble comes racing over from where he'd been hiding under the wagon afraid to get in anyone's way. 'Bubble with give us the main direction and we'll fan out from there. Groups of four? Three?' He suggests as he commands Bubble to start picking up a scent. It was decided that Merrill, Varric and Anders would stay at the cart in case she somehow came back or someone tried to steal their things. Sebastian and Fenris couldn't be left together without squabbling like teenagers so one search team was Fenris, Aveline, and Marethari, Hawke's team had Isabela, Silvanus and Sebastian.

Bubble had managed to pick up a faint trail and led the seven into the forest where after a while he whined and sat back onto his haunches. 'Looks like this is the end of the scent,' Sebastian says with an annoyed sigh. 'This is where we split up?' He asks receiving a nod.

'We search until we find her. There's a mage on each team, we can cast lights and flares. Flare red if you're in trouble, Merrill, Anders and Varric will come to you. Green if you find her, we are going to keep looking until we do find her. If you need to tag out flare purple and one of the others at the cart will take over,' he instructs. 'Everything clear?' He asks. 'Let's go.'

-x-

When Makatza opened her eyes the air around her was a musty purple and there were mist tendrils everywhere, she stood up shaking herself before realising that she was missing a good three feet to her height. That's when she started to look down at herself and saw paws, large ones that were moving up and down, side to side in frantic movements. She spun around and felt a fifth limb, carefully she turned her head and she could see down her back to a tail that was lifted high into the air. 'Ahhhh!' She screamed and heard a howl. 'Hello?' She said and hearing a bark. 'Oh shit, ooh shit, oh shiiiitt!' Makatza said in a stream and trying to ignore the loud whining that emerged from her instead. 'I'm a wolf? A wolf. That fucking mirror,' she cursed as she attempted to walk forward, she was a little wobbly but seemed to pick it up quickly.

'Hello Child,' a voice echoed around her. Makatza cowered for a moment, her ears dropping against her head, 'let us converse for a moment,' the voice said kindly as the mist before her began to take shape. After a couple moments a glowing white wolf with bright green eyes sat before her. 'I expect that you are very confused.'

'Well yeah,' Makatza said, 'oh, that's not coming out as bark or anything,' she says happily.

'I thought it would be easier if you were able to speak without hearing your voice,' the spirit laughs, making the wind and leaves brush past them in a light spin.

'Where am I? What is going on?' Makatza asks, narrowing her eyes. 'It was that damn mirror wasn't it, I swear down I'm going to take a crowbar to that damn thing, I'll-'

'Easy. It was not the artefact that caused this, merely encouraged it. I am the Lady of the Forest, you are in my realm for the moment while we converse. You may call me Wither Fang,' she says as she motions with her head for Makatza to follow her. After a wobbly start Makatza figured out how to walk with four legs and caught up to her with a slight stumble.

A memory triggered, 'Lady of the Forest? The same lady of the forest that the Warden freed? The Queen of Ferelden?' She asked, she had read those books over and over, they were fascinating and the Queen was a force not to be reckoned with, managing to unite several nations against the darkspawn. 'How are you here? You were freed?'

Wither Fang laughed and sniffed the ground for a moment, ivy growing and winding it's way up it's forelegs comfortably. 'I was freed from my prison, being trapped in one body and place, now I can roam as I wish and help those I am able.' She lead her further into the forest, there were no other animals and Makatza couldn't see the sky through the canopy.

'Why are you helping me?' She asked.

'Ahh... you are an Eternal Spirit, you are linked to this world as much as I am. You stole life from the forest to preserve your own after all,' Wither Fang says quietly. 'I felt it, you searched for the recently dead or dying and gave them merciful ends. In doing so you've siphoned some of my own magic and this is what has caused your current predicament,' she smiles. 'Your current form as it were.'

Makatza sat down and looked around the forest, it was peaceful here and she felt at home. 'What is going to happen to me?'

'Ah, that child I cannot tell. I do not know the future. I can say that you will now be bound to this form for a time, though not forever. It has the call of the wild entwined in it's soul, you will have to be careful. The wild wolf is a strong force. Weaken for a moment and it will be free from it's cage and you will lose yourself,' Wither Fang warns. 'You'll find that you have more... canine predispositions,' it says with almost a teasing tone making Makatza's ears perk up. 'A fair trade for your life don't you think?'

Makatza sighed. 'I'm sorry, I didn't meant to cause unbalance in your forest. I was scared and just trying to stay alive,' she mumbles, Wither Fang smiles and walks over licking her face gently.

'Child, I understand. We will see each other again when the time is right. I will have a task for you,' she says softly. 'A penance, if you will. Do you agree that this is fair?'

Makatza nodded and smiles a little, 'yes, I will help when you need me,' she nods. 'Thank you, Lady of the Forest.'

'Sleep child, you will find yourself in your own realm soon enough, your family is looking for you,' Wither Fang says fondly as Makatza laid down and rested her head on her paws a slight wag of her tail. 'Along with your mate,' she adds with a chuckle but Makatza had already fallen asleep. Wither Fang lifted her head and howled gently, the mist retracted and the greens and smells of the forest came billowing back into life around them, the trees swayed in the winds and the stars peeked through the leaves of the crown canopy. The lady of the forest shifted shape and stroked Makatza behind the ears fondly before seeing soft orb like lights through the trees. 'Until next time, Eternal Spirit,' she says softly before disappearing into the breeze.