Everything had gone dark, and then suddenly Talyn was standing knee deep in water, in what looked to be a dungeon. It was dark, except for the few torches that were in the possession of the two guards, bearing the foreign black, white and red checkered Venatori armor with the full masked helmets.

"Blood of the Elder One!" The one on the left exclaimed. "Where did they come from?"

Dorian was standing next to Talyn. They both looked at each other, and then Dorian sent an ice spike towards one of the guards.

Before they could even react to Dorian's attack, Talyn hooked two fingers in the holes on the guard's helmet and pulled hard, making him lose his balance and fall face first into the water. Quickly she jumped on his back, using her weight to hold him under the water while she deflected the other guard's sword. She balanced precariously on the man's back while he thrashed underneath the water. She pulled out the small knife she kept in her boot and sliced it across the other man's throat.

The one she was standing on had gone still. Talyn jumped off him, the water splashing as she moved as far away from her victims as she could.

Dorian watched her curiously as she wrestled with the unnerving fact that she found it so easy to take another life.

"Where are we?" Talyn tore her eyes away from the guards.

Dorian thought for a moment. "It's probably not what Alexius intended. The rift must have moved us…"

"Moved us where?" Talyn demanded.

All she could think about was Solas, and the others. How Talyn had left them to fend for themselves against Alexius and his time magic. But Leiliana was there as well…

Talyn knew that each and every one of them, especially Solas, could take care of themselves, and they were probably alright. But she couldn't shake her worries.

"The closest confluence of arcane energy?" Dorian guessed.

Talyn blinked in confusion. "The last thing I remember, Alexius was attacking us in the castle hall."

Dorian twirled an end of his moustache while he thought. "Let's see… if we're still in the castle, then it… isn't." His eyes lit up as he realized something. "Of course! It's not where we have to figure out- it's when! Alexius moved us through time!"

Talyn and Dorian had been moved through time? "How is that even possible?"

There was a flash of light, and a sharp pain in her head. In her mind's eye, Talyn saw a door, and a faceless figure looking at her through it.

"Talyn, are you alright?" Dorian asked in alarm.

Talyn nodded. "How do we get back?"

"First, we have to figure out what year the rift took us to. Then we can figure out how to get back… if we can."

Talyn nodded and picked up one of the Venatori's swords. She lost her bow when the time rift had brought Talyn and Dorian here.

"Well… let's figure out where we are."

Talyn and Dorian started to wade through the dirty water.

"What was Alexius trying to do, anyways?" Talyn asked.

"I believe Alexius was trying to remove you completely through time. If you weren't at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, you wouldn't have messed up his Elder One's plans. Something clearly went wrong though."

"Clearly, because I'm still here."

"I think you're surprise at the castle made him reckless. He tried to send you through time before he was ready. His magic is wild, unpredictable. When I countered it, we were sent here. Make sense?"

"Uh…sure. I think so." Talyn responded, keeping her eyes peeled for more guards. "This is insane."

"It's alright." Dorian smirked arrogantly. "I'm here. I'll protect you."

Talyn scowled at him. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Yes. Please, remind me to never, ever, get in your way."

Talyn grinned. And then dread bloomed in her heart as a very real realization made her panic.

"Oh no."

"What?" Dorian asked in alarm.

"The others…" Solas. Oh, Creators, Solas. "What happened to them? Were they hurt when we got thrown in time?"

Dorian's voice took on a soothing tone as he heard the panic in her voice. "I doubt that the rift was large enough for the whole room. Alexius wouldn't risk catching himself or Felix in it. Your friends are still probably where and when we left them."

Talyn released a breath she had no idea she had been holding.

They were quiet for a while after that. This half-submerged dungeon seemed to go on for forever.

"Do you know who the Elder One is?" Talyn asked Dorian.

"No. I assume he's the leader of the Venatori. Some magister trying to achieve godhood." Dorian scoffed. "It's the same old tune. 'Here, let's play with magic we barely understand, it will make us incredibly powerful!" He looked disgusted. "Apparently it doesn't matter if you rip a hole through time in the process." `

They were quiet again.

They reached a staircase and walked up to the second floor of the dungeon. What Talyn saw on the second floor made the blood drain from her face.

Spikes of red lyrium sprouted from the stone, emitting a red light that shimmered and moved as if the crystal was alive. It even emitted its own heat. It reminded Talyn too much of the Temple of Sacred Ashes.

"What in Mythal's name…" Talyn whispered.

"Talyn?" A hopeful, desperate, and all too familiar voice called out to her.

"Solas?" Talyn breathed. Then she started running down the hall.

"Talyn, wait!" Dorian tried to stop her.

Talyn didn't care if it was a trap. She had to see if it was really him. She had to make sure her friend was okay.

She saw him leaning heavily against the bars to his cell. There was red lyrium in his cell as well. His eyes that were the purest color of silver Talyn had ever seen had a red tint to them. His skin was an ashen grey, and there seemed to be a red glow about him.

Talyn didn't have to ask to know. The red lyrium was making him sick.

Talyn rushed over to him, covering his icy hands that were gripping the iron bars of his cell with her own. The lyrium markings on her hands started to turn purple. But she didn't let go.

Solas was staring at her like he had the first time they met. "Talyn, you're supposed to be dead."

"Alexius didn't kill us." Dorian explained. "He sent us through time on accident."

"He…" Solas started to cough violently. "It's been one year since you two disappeared in that fog."

"If we can get to Alexius, I might be able to fix this. Send us back to our own time."

Solas shook his head. "That will not be as easy as you think. Alexius is but a servant. The Elder One assassinated the Empress of Orlais and sent a demon army across Thedas. The Elder One is the ruler of Thedas now…. Alexius is not the one you need to worry about."

Oh... Creators no. Talyn gripped the bars of the cage so tight her knuckles turned white. And in a dark, enraged voice, she said to Solas, "Then I'll kill them both."

Talyn let go of Solas' hands and moved to the door of Solas' cell. Her markings started to glow and shimmer in the darkness of the dungeon. She gripped the door with two hands, watching the swirls around her fingers light up like the rest of her body. She narrowed her eyes and started to pull on the door.

"Talyn, there is no way you can rip off an iron door." Dorian tried to reason with her.

"I'm not leaving him here to die."

Solas just stood back, leaning against the farthest wall from the door.

"Talyn, you're going to hurt yourself."

Talyn ignored Dorian and focused on her rage. Her rage at Alexius, and his Elder One, the ones who had tortured Solas, and did Creators knows what to the others. The ones who destroyed the world in only one year.

The door to the cell creaked and cried with the force of Talyn's strength. Talyn's arms burned, but still she pulled. Until finally the door gave way and busted open with a loud slam!

Talyn rushed inside and hugged Solas. He wrapped his arms around her for a fraction of a second, before roughly shoving her away from him.

He must have seen the hurt in Talyn's eyes, because he said in a raspy voice, "the sickness. It's contagious. Don't come near me."

Her heart hurt for what he must have endured. Talyn nodded, and they headed out of the dungeon.

They entered a somewhat caved in hallway. Paintings were ripped and dirty, hanging haphazardly from the walls. Red lyrium grew from the ground here too. The group avoided it as much as they possibly could.

"We need supplies." Talyn said when they reached a chest filled with potions.

"Yes, potions would be a good idea." Dorian agreed.

They wandered a few hallways at first, while Dorian tried to figure out where in the castle they were. Talyn stopped Dorian and Solas when she started hearing voices. Solas crouched down immediately, sneaking along the wall.

"What-" Dorian was about to say.

But Talyn cut him off by putting a finger to her lips and glaring at him. Dorian started to sneak as well after that.

Talyn led them down the hallway, until she identified the door that the noise was coming from.

"You. Will. Break!" She heard somebody hiss.

Talyn moved closer to the noise and identified the door it was coming from.

Then another familiar voice responded, "I will die first!"

Talyn stood in front of the door, and kicked it in.

Hanging by her shackled wrists, was Leiliana. But she looked ancient. Like the life had been sucked from her, leaving nothing but an empty shell. Her skin was the same ashen grey as Solas'. Her sharp eyes turned to Talyn the moment the door broke.

"Or you will."

Leiliana lifted herself and wrapped her legs around the Venatori that looked like he was in the process of torturing her, and snapped his neck.

Talyn immediately ran to Leiliana's side, scooping up the key to the shackles that was still on the dead guard's person. Leiliana looked at Talyn like she was a miracle.

"You're alive..." She whispered.

"You're safe now, Leiliana. " Talyn tried to comfort her.

She suddenly grew angry. "Safe?" She growled. "If you came back from the dead, you need to do better than 'safe'. You need to end this."

"That was already the plan." Dorian told her.

Leiliana nodded. "Good. The magister is probably in his chambers." She moved slowly, painfully, to a chest in a corner of the torture chamber. She started pulling weapons out of it.

"You... aren't curious as to how we got here?" Dorian asked her.

"No." She responded.

"Alexius sent us through time!" Dorian told her. "This, his victory, his Elder One. It was never meant to be."

"If we get back to the present and stop Alexius, then this will never happen." Her friends would never have to experience this suffering.

Leiliana's eyes narrowed. "And mages wonder why people fear them. No one should have this power."

"Well, yes-" Dorian started.

But Leiliana held up a hand. "Stop it. This is just a fantasy to you, a story that's not real. Well it is real. I suffered, Solas suffered. The whole world suffered. It is real. And you are going to end it." She shoved weapons in Talyn's hands. She felt the familiar, smooth wood of her bow.

"Leiliana. Where is Bull and Cassandra?" Talyn looked her in the eye.

Leiliana looked back at her with hard eyes. Her skeletal face showed nothing but apathy. "In the dungeon. I will find them. Go."

Talyn dropped her stolen sword and slung her bow over her back. "Thank you."

Then they were off again then, going the way Leiliana pointed them to. It wasn't just the dungeon that was caved in. There were several hallways that Dorian had to use his magic to clear the debris, so they could get through. The castle was dark, and damp, but it was so warm. Talyn was sweating in her ebony armor. The red lyrium crystals that were planted everywhere was the cause of the heat. The longer Talyn was around them, the more her skin started to itch. Like there were bugs underneath her skin.

"The red lyrium is causing a reaction from the lyrium in your skin." Solas stated.

"What reaction?"

"I don't want to find out." Solas told her solemnly