Rajmael of Clan Lavellan

by Powerslammer

Rajmael is an elf possessed of great pride and an incredible power. Born with a powerful name and a greater destiny, he has lived his whole life by the the Vir Tanadhal. And now he must use his ancient knowledge to stand against forces that threaten his world and everything he loves. Watch as he stands as a Dalish Elf, a Herald and as The Inquisitor. Please, please review.

52. The End of The Beginning: Part I

The End Of The Beginning: Part I

Cassandra didn't even have time to wipe the tears from her eyes when that bright light that had consumed the Inquisitor's companions enveloped them once again, and dragged them away from Rajmael's memory of pain and loss. The light was brighter than it had ever been, it was almost blinding. All of them expected to find themselves in yet another strange environment, plunged into the memory of one of their heroes' lives. Instead, when they opened their eyes, they found themselves standing in somewhat familiar surroundings.

They were no longer in the illusions of far away lands, or seeing images of battle, triumph, or pain. They were back in the Vir Dirthara, the Spirit Library, where all this began. And there they were, Rajmael, Hawke, and Aedan. The three heroes who had so recently tried to kill each other, and whose lives all of them had the privilege of seeing through their precious memories. The insane desire to murder on another was no longer present in them, and all three of them looked as if they were waking from a deep slumber. There wasn't a scratch on any of them, with the exception of Aedan's shattered armor and axe, it was like the intense battle they waged against each other never even happened.

Rajmael slowly rose back to his feet, trying to get his bearings and brush off the haze of confusion around him. There was a look of relief on his face when he found Cassandra standing there with him. "Cassandra? What's happened?"

Cassandra gently caressed her hands on Rajmael's face, she had to know if this was truly him or just another illusion of this place. Rajmael pressed her hand against his cheek and kissed it with the warmth only he had, giving Cassandra her answer. Overcome with all the emotion she felt at witnessing her love's life of loss and pain, Cassandra couldn't stop herself from embracing Rajmael as close as she could and cried her heart out into his chest.

"Rajmael...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything." Cassandra wept emotionally.

Rajmael didn't understand why Cassandra was so upset, but held her closely to try and assuage her pain. "Sorry for what? Cassandra, please...please, don't cry. Don't cry, Ma Vhenan."

"Varric, what in Andraste's name happened?" Hawke asked his old friend.

"I'll tell you later, Hawke. But trust me, it's going to be one helluva story." Varric said with wide smile, full of pride in his best friend.

While Cassandra poured out all the emotion her heart felt for Rajmael, the rest of them looked upon the three heroes with new eyes. After seeing everything these men had been through, all the pain and hardship they had suffered to become the men they are now, was an experience none of them could ever forget. It was almost humbling to have born witness to these men's lives. Now, they looked upon these great men with a newfound respect.

"How you feeling, Aedan?" Zevran asked curiously. After seeing him get cleaved open and suffer other terrible injuries at the hands of the Inquisitor and the Champion, Zevran was slightly concerned about his friend's health.

"I don't now about the rest of you, but for some reason, I am really fucking hungry." Aedan stated, smacking his lips hungrily.

Sera, Dorian, Varric and even Zevran puked when they heard Aedan say that. After seeing just how truly grisly his appetite was, the thought of Aedan eating anything was enough to turn their stomachs.

"What's eating them?" Aedan asked confusedly.

"BLAAAARRRGHHHH!" Everyone puked some more.

Oh, go eat your hearts out!" Aedan said deeply annoyed.

They all threw up everything their stomachs had in them from the past week. None of them ever wanted to hear Aedan speak the words "eat" and "heart" in the same sentence ever again.

"Please, please, for shit's sake, stop talking." Sera begged desperately, spitting the vomit out of her mouth, a week's worth of her lunch spewed on the ground. "I'll tell ya where Vivvy stashes all her dirty money if you please shut up."

"What was that?!" Vivienne demanded the Red Jenny thief.

"Nothing!" Sera chortled.

Rajmael, Aedan and Hawke quickly recollected themselves, and remembered that they still had a mission to complete. Rajmael and Hawke gathered up their supplies and inspected their gear to make sure there was no serious damage to their weapons. Aedan was grievously disappointed about the destruction of his dragonbone axe and armor, so he grabbed one of the axes left behind by the slain qunari, and just went bare-chested, baring his intricate tattoos and highly developed muscles for everyone to see.

Before any of them could make their way back to the eluvian and the path that led to the Vidasala's camp on that upside-down island, the immense shrine in the center of this place began tremble, and the artificial elven tree at the top of the shrine burned with white magical fire. Everyone was afraid that another magical trap had been activated, and the Anchor on Rajmael's hand began to burn gently in his palm. Instead of another magical entrapment, or attack from hostile spirits, something emerged from the shrine: a pedestal with a chest resting on it. Rajmael felt the Anchor pulsate in his hand like it was beckoning him to approach the shrine.

As Rajmael walked up the steps of the shrine and towards the newly revealed pedestal, everyone was alarmed to see the Librarians waiting for him in all their ghastly, nightmarish horror. Yet, as Rajmael approached them, their terrifying visages melted away, and revealed their true forms. Tall, graceful spirits with elven features clad in long robes, and were surrounded by an air of wisdom. The newly restored spirits bowed lowly before the Inquisitor in humble gratitude. For what, Rajmael did not know, but returned the gesture to them.

"Andaran atish'an, Dirth'ena Enasalin." The Librarian spirits greeted in unison.

The ancient chest opened on its own will, and one of the ancient spirits grabbed its contents and graciously presented it to Rajmael. It was some kind of tome, large and heavy, with a brilliant crystal settled on the cover, and etched with beautiful, intricately designed runes of elven design. The book was beyond ancient, yet it was still in flawless condition.

Rajmael opened the tome and carefully looked through its precious contents, and what he found written in those pages was enough to bring a tear to Rajmael's eye. He closed the book with reverence and bowed gratefully to the Librarians for the gift they presented him.

"Ma serannas, elgar." Rajmael said with gracious respect.

"Garas atishall, Dirth'ena Enasalin." The Librarians bade to the elven mage, bowing in equal respect before disappearing to finally resume their long neglected duties in the Vir Dirthara.

Rajmael walked back down from the shrine, the book still open in his hands, and marveling at its pages. It was like he couldn't believe what he was seeing, even though he was holding it in his hands.

"Rajmael? What did those spirits give you?" Cassandra asked, deeply curious as to why this book had such an effect on him.

"It's a manuscript..." Rajmael answered after a brief pause, like he couldn't believe his own answer. "A codex of the elven tongue. Our entire language is written here! Words that were believed to have been lost, words I didn't even know existed. There's even translations in the common tongue and interpretations of our written language." It took everything Rajmael had to keep his hands from trembling as he held this priceless, irreplaceable piece of his people's lost culture. His eyes shined with pride and awe as he beheld it. "I...I never dreamed of finding something so precious. My people have lost so much, to even have the hope of having our own language again, it would be the next big step to becoming a united people once again. This truly is a place of knowledge."

To hear the jubilation in Rajmael's voice, in his very words, one would think he had discovered the first word of the Maker, or an endless lyrium vein. To most people, their language is something that is often taken for granted, never taking the time to truly understand its value to a people and their culture. Most cultures and countries having abandoned their native tongues for the Common Tongue. To the elves, their language, spoken and written, was an irreplaceable part of their identity that had been cruelly stripped from them by years of slavery, oppression and cultural genocide, and was now reduced only to a few spoken phrases used by City Elves and a jealously guarded secret by the Dalish. To have this part of their identity returned to them after so many centuries would instrumental in reuniting the fractured elven people.

Rajmael placed the codex in his satchel, and the aura around him had now changed. There was no longer a look of unbridled joy in his eyes, but one of fearsome determination and purpose. "This will be the first gift I give to Eva. Now, let's get her back."

Reunited with the three great heroes, their spirits reignited after seeing the true strength and character of the men they followed, all of them grabbed their gear and made their way back to shattered hall of the Spirit Library. The broken bridge they had been trying to activate now floated over the endless chasm, granting them access to the active eluvian, where the Viddasala was just on the other side.

~XoXoXo~

Rajmael and his entire company emerged from the eluvian and on the upside-down island. Like everywhere else in this place, it was another corner of the expansive Spirit Library. Mounds of books and tomes filled with irreplaceable knowledge cast uncaringly to the shattered floor, where a stream of water was flowing into some kind of meditation pool in the middle of island. Scurrying around this entire section of the library, with determined intent, like ants marching with blind purpose, were dozens of Qunari soldiers. They were rummaging through all the books here, cataloguing what they discovered and carelessly disregarding anything that wasn't related to what they were looking for like it was trash.

When the Qunari noticed the armed group of baas intruding on their operation, they quickly ceased what they were doing and unsheathed their weapons.

"Survivor of the Breach. Herald of Change. Savior of the South. Rajmael of Clan Lavellan." An unknown yet powerful and authoritative voice addressed austerely.

Rajmael and his company looked up to one of the balconies overlooking this shattered section of the library and saw the figure who was addressing them. She was tall, powerful-looking Qunari woman with cold, piercing eyes and draconic horns on her head. She wore a uniform of rank with some kind of ancient tome strapped to her left shoulder, like the book would offer her protection in battle. The only thing that detracted from this powerful woman was the Qunari mage behind her, bound in a restraining mask and chains, and was easily the largest Qunari any of them had ever seen. With both muscles and magic, that sarebaas could be a dangerous enemy. However, right now, the only thing Rajmael cared about was the Qunari woman who glaring daggers at him, and he returned the favor.

"The Viddasala I presume." Rajmael stated more than guessed.

The Viddasala didn't even bother acknowledging the elf's presumption and continued to look at him as though his very presence was an offense.

"After fulfilling your purpose at the Breach, I found it astonishing to hear that your people still let you walk around free." The Viddasala stated with contempt. "Your duty is done, Inquisitor. It's time to end your magic."

Rajmael glared up at the Ben-hessrath leader, his anger and outrage far outstripping hers. "You're going to have to try a little harder than that if you want to intimidate me. The last guy who tried had a dragon and a legion of demons backing him up, not horn-headed little bitches like you've got."

"I am aware of your abilities as a blunt instrument, Inquisitor. No different than well-trained guard dog. All the more reason why I am confounded that your people let you wander without a leash." The Viddasala spoke with casual disregard. Like the Inquisitor's anger meant nothing to her at all. "I am no stranger to catastrophe, but the chaos in the South defies comprehension. The Qun left your people to curb your own magic, but you've amply proven that we should have stepped in long ago."

"So your solution to stopping magic is to assassinate all the leaders of the South and turn all of Thedas against the Qunari? You're insane!" Hawke dejected resentfully. "How is all out war suppose to save anyone?"

"Do you think that closing the Breach solved everything? That's it consequences stopped there?" "The Viddasala lectured like she was speaking to ignorant children. "The day we saw the Breach, the Qun decided its action. We would remove your leaders and spare those who toil. But this agent of Fen'heral has disrupted everything! Many lives that could have been saved will now perish because of him!"

There it was again. This mystery person that seemed to be ahead of all of them. The so-called agent of the Dread Wolf that was somehow harassing the Qunari throughout the eluvians. And for some reason, the Viddasala thought this agent and the Inquisition were in collusion together.

"Just who is this Agent of Fen'heral? And why do you think he is connected with the Inquisition?" Rajmael demanded.

The Viddasala turned her back on the Inquisitor and walked to the active eluvian behind her, the massive sarebaas following close behind her. "Kill the Inquisitor, then follow me to the Darvaarad."

"Wait! Where is my daughter, you miserable bitch!?" Rajmael demanded angrily.

The Viddasala stopped for a moment and glanced back at the Inquisitor. "Your imekari is safe. Safer with us than she would be with you. Your actions against Corypheus deserved at least that much. I will make sure she finds a place within the Qun."

The Viddasala took her leave and left her men to finish of the Inquisitor and his companions while she finished the final preparations for the Dragon's Breath. Rajmael felt his anger pique. How dare that religious fanatic turn her back on him after kidnapping Eva and act like it was good thing. He would kill her.

Rajmael furiously leaped off the ground and practically flew towards the Viddasala, his sword drawn and burning with veilfire. He intended to split the vile woman in half for daring to touch his precious Eva. Rajmael's enraged attack was halted by the colossal sarebaas who grabbed the Inquisitor's sword with his bare hand mere inches before the blade could even touch the Viddasala, and she didn't even flinch. The sarebaas gripped Rajmael's sylvanwood sword, cutting his hand deeply but seemed immune to pain, and looked at the Inquisitor from beneath the mask he was bound in, his eyes were as hollow and lifeless as a dead man's.

The massive sarebaas grasped the Inquisitor by the neck and threw him back down to the ground with immense force. Rajmael's body hit the ground so hard that it cracked the ground beneath him. If Rajmael couldn't self-regenerate, his ribs, spine and skull would have shattered from the force of his landing.

"Come, Saraath." The Viddasala beckoned coldly to the giant mage. "The rest of you, kill the Inquisitor and these baas. Rendevous back at the Darvaarad."

Rajmael bounded back to his feet and watched angrily as the Vidasala walked through the eluvian, her giant mage obediently following close behind her, and left the rest of her men to carry out her orders. Rajmael swore to kill her for this, but first he was going to have to deal with the rest of her followers, and find out where this Darvaarad is.

The Hero of Ferelden charged first against the attacking Qunari soldiers, their superior number meaning absolutely nothing to him. Three Qunari soldiers came at Aedan from all sides, their weapons drawn and ready to carve the tattooed human to pieces. Aedan waited for all three of his attackers to get within just the right range, the Qunari axe he picked up earlier held tightly in his grip. He had to time this just right.

Right when the three Qunari soldiers got close enough Aedan quickly swung his replacement axe across all three of their necks in a single wide arc. Three horned heads fell from their shoulders, their severed necks spurting geysers of blood all over Aedan's face and bare chest, painting all his tattoos red. Aedan smiled that sinister, toothy grin of his as he licked their blood from his lips and savored the taste and felt the entropic energies of their deaths lingering in the air.

The Qunari soldiers formed ranks and prepared to attack while their archers and javelin throwers hurled their projectiles at the baas. Vivienne froze the water in the meditation pool and raised it into a wall of ice, and blocked the arrows and javelins that were flying towards them. Giving the Qunari no time to adjust their tactics, Varric placed two of his specially made mines on the wall of ice. The ice wall blew up into an explosion of giant ice shards, and many of the Qunari who were standing in front of the wall had their bodies riddled with the frozen shrapnel.

With the Qunari distracted by the explosion of frozen ice, Zevran slipped into the background like and made his way towards the archers and javelin throwers. Shimmying up to their balconies, then slitting their throats and stabbing their hearts as quickly and silently as a shadow. Zevran was a true master of the art of assassination, none of the sorry Qunari he killed even knew he was there.

"Everyone, get down!" Hawke shouted when he a Qunari mage, a sarebaas, jumped up into the air like an Orlesian firecracker, then came flying back down, covered in a field of destructive energy. The qunari mage struck the ground like a meteorite, creating a crater where it landed and causing and explosion of destructive energy. If all of them hadn't ducked for cover, the force of that explosion could have knocked them off the island and sent them hurdling into the endless abyss below.

After facing enough of these walking canons back in Kirkwall, Hawke was the closest to an expert on how to combat Qunari mages. The magic of the Qunari sarebaas was raw, primal and full of destructive energy, meant to cause as much destruction on the enemy as possible. This was the only purpose the Qun allowed its mages to have: to be living weapons and bring destruction where their cannons could not. However, because the Qunari never fully trained their mages to master their magic, their mana reserves were incredibly low when compared to a Circle Mage, and when they used any powerful spells, the sarebaas needed time to recover. That was their crippling weakness.

After creating that massive explosion with his own body, the sarebaas used up a good portion of his magic. Not giving the horn-headed mage time to recover, Hawke emerged out from behind his cover and charged the sarebaas before he could conjure another destructive spell. Varric gave the Champion cover fire as he attacked the sarebaas with the Celebrant. The Qunari mage tried to conjure a ball of destructive energy to throw at the Champion, but Hawke was faster with his sword. The first swing of the Celebrant chopped off the sarebaas' hands, disrupting the destructive spell he was casting, and the second swing knocked off the sarebaas' head before he even had a chance to scream in pain. And while Hawke was cutting up the sarebaas, Varric shot down several more Qunari archers before they could loos their arrows at his friend, and Varric was a much better shot than they were.

With the sarebaas, archers and javelin throwers disposed off, all that was left of the Viddasala's men were the low ranking karashock that she had brought here. These foot-soldiers were trained to fight against the mages of the Imperium and their slaves, or the Tal-Vashoth or mercenaries, but none of these low ranking soldier had fought anything like the Inquisitor, the Hero, or the Champion, and those who followed them. They had all fought demons, bloodmages, darkspawn monstrosities, and all of them carved reputations out of killing dragons. Compared to that, these Qunari were just flesh and blood, fanatics of a different creed. In ordering her men to fight these people, the Viddasala left her men to their deaths.

Soon, all the men the Viddasala had left to kill the Inquisitor were dead. Their many corpses riddles with arrows, stabbed by swords, cut by knives, destroyed by magic, or simply ripped apart by axes. Their blood staining the marble floor and turning the meditation fountain into a pool of crimson. However, despite killing all these men, this was no victory, far from it. The Viddasala was gone, and they had no idea where she went. In battling her men, Rajmael was delayed even further, and the Viddasala would get closer to achieving her goal with the Dragon's Breath and kill all the leaders of Southern Thedas. And Rajmael got closer to losing Eva forever.

"Search their bodies, look through the books they were plundering. Try to find anything that might be useful. Orders, maps, plans, anything that might tell us where that bitch went." Rajmael ordered refusing to give up. He didn't come this far and learn all these hard truths just to not achieve his goal.

All them began stripping the dead Qunari soldiers of anything that might be useful and searched through the gathered books with haste. They knew the Viddasala was delving into the history of the Veil, and that she was trying to decipher formulae to reinforce the Veil's power. By now, the Viddasala also knew, just as they did, that it was the Dread Wolf who created the Veil in the first place, sealing the Waking and Dreaming worlds.

Why was this so important to the Viddasala? All Qunari fear magic, and the Viddasala's purpose within the Qun was magical research. Was it possible she was trying to find away to study the Veil to stifle magic? Rajmael had no idea.

"Nothing useful on these bodies, but I did find this. Qunari aren't much for treasures, maybe it means something." Hawke called over to the Inquisitor and tossed a strange stone over to him. It looked like a ruby the size of an apricot pit that was flawlessly cut into the shape of tear drop.

Rajmael examined the stone carefully, and knew that this was an item of importance for the Qunari officer to have carried it. "This thing is stone is definitely magic. However, it's dormant, deactivated. I don't know how reactivate it, or even what it's for."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance, honored Dirth'ena Enasalin?" A strange ethereal voice called. It was the Archivist, another one of the ancient, shattered Spirits of Knowledge that catered to this place. The incorporeal being floated gently towards Rajmael and bowed respectfully to the elven patron.

"Do you know where the Qunari called the Viddasala went off to?" Rajmael asked the spirit.

"Yes. We heard much, although the Viddasala fooled herself into thinking we could not hear her speaking." The harmless spirit answered. "'Take a keystone to the Darvaarad. I will meet you there shortly, and take stock of our remaining gaatlok powder.' If you wish to travel there, that keystone you posses will take you, but you will need the pass phrase."

"Do you know this pass phrase?"

"Yes. It is pronounced 'Maraas Nehraa'. 'For nothing', in the Qunari tongue." When the Archivist spoke those words, the keystone activated and began glowing in Rajmael's hand. "It glows. It will open the path to the Darvaarad for you. May you find what you seek. I will raise the path so you may continue your quest."

The Spirit raised its hand and the large stones around this place floated over to a nearby chasm and arranged themselves into a sturdy bridge over the abyss where an active eluvian was waiting for them.

"Ma sarannas, honored spirit." Rajmael thanked with deep gratitude.

"No, thank you, honored Arcane Warrior." The Spirit said graciously, it voice sounding as though it would weep. "In rediscovering the truths hidden in this place, you awoke the Librarians from their torment, gave them back their purpose. Perhaps, in time, they will begin repairing this place, make it a marvel to behold once more. I was Connection. One city could read the records of another, one elvhen could feel the memories of another. When the Veil fell upon us, I marked the end of all they knew. Thank you for giving my existence purpose again."

With this newfound knowledge and the means to reach the Viddasala's base of operations, they now had a chance to strike at her and stop this Dragon's Breath plan before it truly started, and Rajmael was that much closer to getting Eva back. They had to get to the Darvaarad and stop this madness before it engulfed Thedas into another war, but first, they had to report back to Rajmael's War Council and discuss all their discoveries.

Later, Back At The Winter Palace...

Rajmael reconvened with his War Council with the Hero and the Champion accompanying him. Aedan had donned a simple shirt to cover his tattoos and bare chest, but didn't bother putting on a new suit of armor.

The Inquisitor told Leliana, Josephine and Cullen everything they had learned in the Vir Dirthara. Not only of the Viddasala's location and the knowledge she was seeking in the Vir Dirthara, but the truths they discovered of the Evanuris, of Fen'heral, who created the Veil. Leliana, Cullen and Josephine were astonished, to say the least, but sadly, they had their own dire news to give to the Inquisitor.

"Your agents have confirmed that there are gaatlok barrels in the Denerim palace?" Josephine asked completely shocked.

The Lady Ambassador's shock wasn't nearly as severe as Aedan's was when he heard that.

"WHAT!? That horn-headed heifer! I'm gonna snap those fucking horns off her head, shove one up her ass and use the other for a toothpick!" Aedan cursed viciously. The fact that the Viddasala penetrated the security of his king and best friend's seat both infuriated and shamed him.

"Alistair isn't the only one in danger, Aedan." Leliana informed with dour stoicism. "There are also gaatlok barrels in Val Royeaux, Nevarra City, and throughout the Free Marches. Including Kirkwall, and even Wycome, where the Inquisitor's clan resides. The Winter Palace isn't their only target."

An aghast look gripped Hawke's face and his eyes widened with horror at that news. "No. Not again. The Qunari have already attacked Kirkwall once, and it's already suffered from a massive explosion carried out by a fanatic. I won't let either happen again."

"Keeper Deshanna, my entire clan is in danger?" Rajmael asked horrified.

"Your friends and family aren't the only ones that are being threatened, gentlemen." Cullen addressed, though he was just as concerned as they were. "The Qunari are just one order away from destroying every noble house in the known world. And without any real leadership, the Qunari can very well sweep across Southern Thedas."

"There is a bright side: warning the ambassadors will remind them of the Inquisition's value." Josephine pointed out, desperately trying to remain calm and positive.

"Not when the Inquisition is responsible for that threat." Leliana rebutted with cold truth.

"Wait. You mean to say the Qunari came in through us?" Rajmael asked in disbelief. "How is that possible, damn it!?"

Leliana nodded her head slowly, not wanting to believe the truth herself. "We followed your orders and searched that elven servant's quarters. We discovered corresponding letters and other bits of evidence that he was a Qunari spy."

"But the servant was Orlesian. That implicates Orlais, not the Inquisition." Josephine argued.

"The servant was Orlesian, but the gaatlok barrels he was trying to sneak into the palace were on the Inquisition's supply manifest." Leliana revealed, shocking all of them to the core.

"How are we suppose to fight a war when we cannot even trust our own people?" Cullen groaned in frustration.

"Just who the fuck put those damned barrels onto our supply manifest?" Rajmael inquired with his patience running short.

"After what happened with that servant you interrogated, I took the liberty of having our own people looked into, just to be safe. And we discovered several of the Inquisition's elven workers have gone missing." Leliana began explaining. "I had their backgrounds checked. They all joined the Inquisition after fleeing the chaos in Kirkwall."

"I remember when Kirkwall was at its worst. Many of the city's elves converted to the Qun, in hopes of finding a better life." Cullen recalled.

"Considering how terrible the elves of the city were treated, and how much they were suffering, I can't say I blame them for converting to the Qun." Hawke stated honestly. "At least the Qun treats their elves with respect."

"And now the Qunari have made them spies." Josephine added regretfully. "I suppose years of living under such harsh conditions has made their willingness to see all the leaders of Thedas die that much easier for them."

Rajmael couldn't believe this was happening. He felt like such a fool; even he would never have suspected his own people of stabbing him in the back. "So, all this time, everything we've done in the past two years was meaningless. We try to repair the world, only to be the ones who house our enemies right under our noses. We're the seeds of our own destruction. If our political rivals learn this, they'll have all they'll need to destroy us. We cannot allow them to know this."

Josephine's calm and collected demeanor began to shatter right before their eyes. "I have fought to protect the Inquisition in this Exalted Council, and for what? So we could deceive and threaten those we claimed to protect?"

Cullen tried to reason with his fellow councilmember. "Once we locate the spies..."

"I am not talking about the spies, Cullen!" Josephine lashed out, her Antivan temper finally revealing itself for the first time, looking at both Cullen and Leliana accusingly. "You hid the Qunari body, Leliana. And Cullen, you've all but seized control from the Winter Palace!"

"Yeah, if Orlais and Ferelden are actually agreeing on something, you know you're fucked." Aedan commented backhandedly.

"We did what was right, not what was politically convenient at the time!" Cullen argued back.

"Do you realize what this has cost us with Ferelden and Orlais? They are threatening to dismantle us, even as we speak!" Josephine lambasted harshly. "And perhaps they are right."

Cullen and Josephine's argument came to a dead halt when they heard Rajmael crying out in pain. The mark on his hand was flaring up again, only this time it was much worse than before. Green magic burned and sparked out his hand like an out of control torch, searing him with the same kind of pain from when Rajmael was burned as a child; the pain was unlike anything else he had ever known. The skin on his arm cracked open like large fissure's on his flesh, revealing the magic from the burning beneath. It was like the magic of the Anchor was spilling out and incinerating his arm from the inside.

The horrible pain, combined with the discovery that the Inquisition was being undermined within its own ranks, and Eva still being in terrible danger, Rajmael finally lost his temper.

"AAARRRGGHHHH!" Rajmael screamed in infuriated agony, and smashed his fist on a nearby marble statue with his marked hand, smashing it to pieces. "We save two kingdoms from being destroyed by Corypheus, and now they both want to get rid of us! We stop an Avvar winter god from destroying Lower Thedas, but no one gives a shit! I was forced to kill MY OWN BROTHER! To save the people I hate! Then the Qunari steal Eva from her home, and on top of that, my own fucking hand, the hand that saved the world, wants to kill me! CAN'T ANYTHING IN MY MISERABLE FUCKING LIFE EVER GO RIGHT!?"

Everyone was taken back by Rajmael's furious out burst. Even Aedan decided to take a step back from the enraged Inquisitor. Rajmael took a moment to try and calm down, to let the pain subside, before he collected himself. He knew what he needed to do, and just who to take his anger out on. A cloud of dread filled the room when the War Council realized that

"I need to get to the Darvaarad." Rajmael sighed, trying to breath out his anger. "I need to get Eva back, I don't care about anything else. This mark is probably going to kill me before the Exalted Council can do anything about me. In the mean time, I want you to handle this as best you can. But no matter what, I am getting my daughter back, even if I die."

"We will do what we can, Inquisitor." Leliana said sorrowfully.

"Should we...should we inform the Exalted Council of the danger, then? Should you fail to...to come back, Inquisitor?" Josephine asked, worried for her leader and friend.

"Yes." Rajmael answered grimly. "Should the worst come to pass, and I don't make it back, tell the Council what we've discovered, so they might prepare for the coming danger."

"I will inform them personally." Leliana promised solemnly.

"No, Leliana, that should be my duty." Josephine bade her oldest friend.

"Your job is difficult enough as it is, Josie. This is my responsibility." Leliana determined.

"I will have our men surround the building housing the eluvian, should the Qunari attack the palace themselves." Cullen stated, trying to hide his own emotions over what they just learned.

"Leliana, inform the others we'll be leaving soon. And tell them...tell them that I am dying. This will be their last venture under my command." Rajmael bade morosely. His heart ached over how this news would effect Cassandra. His Nevarran princess was the only good thing that made being Inquisitor bearable.

"I will do as you ask, Inquisitor. And I will be sure to be gentle, for Cassandra's sake." Leliana obliged sadly. "Maker watch over you all."

~XoXoXo~

Rajmael, Aedan, and Hawke made their way to leave the council chamber when the doors were flung open. Just as Rajmael was walking by himself, who should come marching through the Winter Palace Gardens and straight towards the Inquisitor but Empress Celene, Marquis Briala, followed closely by her guards.

"Inquisitor, you have explaining to do!" The Empress demanded, angrily pointing at the Inquisitor.

Rajmael groaned despondently, the was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now. "Look, if you have any grief about the Exalted Council, take it up with Duke Cyril and we'll discuss it with the rest of the Council."

"This has nothing to do with the Exalted Council!" Celene said intensely. "This has to do with the insane elven assassin and her cult of fanatics that you let live, that Velara woman!"

Rajmael couldn't believe this. "You know about her? Marquis, I thought I had your word that this would be kept secret?"

"It's hard to keep such secrets when Velara kills the Empress' guards, holds a blade to my neck, and threatens to assassinate the Empress and myself." Briala explained sternly. "We would have both been killed if it weren't for the timely intervention of General Cousland's subordinates."

"How could you just let that madwoman run free!? Do you have any idea how much damage she could have done? If she had succeeded, the woman could have started another civil war, and the Empire would probably not survive it!" Celene berated accusingly. She was still incredibly angry over how Velara almost killed Briala.

"Oh, shut the fuck up, you dumb, stuck-up shem!" Rajmael shouted back at the empress, finally losing his own temper. "You have absolutely no right to judge me, or Velara! You're the one who murdered Velara's family and set Halamashiral to burn! I don't blame any elf that wants to see you dead, that's bed you chose to make! And remember this, never forget this: You kept your throne because I allowed it! You're only alive because I ordered it! Don't you dare forget who it was that let you keep that crown on your head!"

With those final words, Rajmael turned his back on Celene and left both her and Briala in a state of shock. No one, not even Gaspard, had ever spoke to the Empress of Orlais thusly.

~XoXoXo~

While Aedan and Hawke made their final preparations, and Leliana informed the rest of his companions, Rajmael found a quiet spot out in the garden to a few moments of peace. Night had fallen over Orlais, and the sky was coming to life with the brilliance of fireworks that whistled and exploded in a multitude of colors across the night sky. All the nobles had come out to take a recess from the Exalted Council and enjoy the pyrotechnic show. Rajmael found the irony sickly humorous; that these people would come out to admire explosives when their lives could very well be ended by them.

Rajmael didn't come out here just to catch the entertainment, or even to try and ignore the horrible pain his arm was in. He came here to try and find his center, and to prepare himself for his inevitable end. He was dying, and he knew it. Either the magic from the Anchor would consume him, or the Qunari might end up killing him. Either way, odds were that he would be dead by dawn.

Rajmael wasn't sure how to accept this. As an Arcane Warrior and the Inquisitor, death was a part of his reality, and as an Arcane Warrior, he was trained to not fear death. Even when he fought against the Nightmare at Adamant, Haakon Wintersbreath, and Corypheus, he was never scared to die because he knew there was that hope for victory. But the difference between possessing the hope of coming back alive and the knowledge of knowing that you're going to die was different. It was like standing against a tidal wave, but no matter what you did, you'd still be swept out to sea.

In times of uncertainty when the shadow of death loomed over him, Rajmael would always pray to his gods for strength and inner peace. But two years ago, after he met with Flemeth and learned she was the host of the spirit of Mythal, Rajmael's faith fractured. And now, after learning the real truth about all the elven in the places through the eluvians, that his gods were nothing more than powerful mage-rulers, Evanuris, Rajmael's once pious faith was now completely shattered. Rajmael felt that swirl of turmoil and loss storming inside him again. The elven gods were an integral part of elven identity, the Dales were destroyed and sacked for wanting to keep to their faith, and the Dalish were forced to become nomadic vagabonds for refusing the Chantry's demands to give up their religion. And now Rajmael knew the truth: their gods, and everything his people fought and died for, was a lie.

What were they without their gods? What was there to identify them from the rest of the world? What was there to make his people feel that their lives had purpose, that there was something greater than themselves guiding them, and believe that there was better place waiting for them beyond the misery and pain of this world? Rajmael felt this horrible pain and loss of self agonizing him more than his mark ever could. How could he have the strength to save Eva if his spirit was so weak?

As he knelt on the grass in his own grief, searching his soul for the answers. Life must have been so easy for a man like Aedan Cousland, to have never known love or loyalty to any gods, to have never put his faith in anything beyond the real world and then have his soul crushed when that faith was betrayed.

That was when Rajmael remembered something Aedan had told him earlier. He told Rajmael that despite everything his people had lost, their homeland and even their gods, they were still here. His people still fought to keep control of their destiny, even when the whole world was against them. Everything they had accomplished, everything Rajmael had accomplished, was from their own strength of will, not the outside intervention of gods who never heard their prayers. It was Rajmael's own people that made their, and it was Rajmael's people, his family that made him the man he was, not the ancient gods who warred amongst each other. That was when Rajmael found the answer he had been searching for.

The Inquisitor drew his sword and planted it firmly in the ground, and took a knee as though he were going to pray. He was going to pray, not to the gods, but to those who had truly been there in his life. Those who had greeted him on the brink of death, and guided him away from the Beyond during his final battle with Corypheus.

"Mother, Father, Junnarel, Nethras, Evanura. Please, if you are truly out there, hear my and guide me on this, my final day in battle." Rajmael beseeched, knowing in his heart that the spirits of his family were watching him. "My death comes soon, and I am not afraid to face it, but I am scared to fail. If I fall, the Qunari will succeed and countless people will die, and Eva will be lost forever. Please, grant me the strength to achieve one last victory before the Anchor takes my life. Give me the strength to rescue Eva, and ensure that she will live her life freely. And when my death comes, I beg you all to greet me once again, and guide me to my resting place in the Beyond."

Rajmael rose from his prayer, his mind clear and his spirit ready to carry out his mission. No matter what happened tonight, this would be Rajmael's final mission as the Inquisitor. If he could save Eva, then his life would have had true meaning, as far as he was concerned. Eva was Rajmael's daughter in all but blood, and he would carry out his duty as a father and keep her safe, even at the cost of his own life.

~XoXoXo~

The Inquisitor made his way to the chamber where his soldiers were housing the Eluvian, and where his companions were waiting for him. When Rajmael entered the room, it was if there was a black cloud hanging over their heads, and there was regret in all of their eyes. Cole hid his face under his hat so no one would see him crying, while Varric tried to comfort him. Ranier and Dorian both had looks of deep regret, knowing that they would lose a great friend. Even Iron Bull looked like he was going to get emotional. Cassandra seemed to be the most upset, and was doing her best to keep a strong face.

Varric was the first to speak with a sad look on his face. "Nightingale told us about what's happening with your hand, Inquisitor."

"Your hand hurts, it's pulling you apart. The magic won't be contained any longer." Cole said worriedly.

"Inquisitor, I want you to know that should the worst come to pass, I will still honor my word and complete this mission." Hawke promised staunchly.

"And if you do die tonight, I'll make sure the Exalted Council knows what happened, and acknowledge that you saved their lives." Aedan swore.

"There must be something we can do." Cassandra hoped desperately. "A spell, a treatment that can save you. You've survived grievous wounds before."

"Aedan and I once encountered a mage named Avernus who prolonged his life through magic, perhaps one of his journals can tells us his method, to save your life?" Zevran tried suggesting.

"There are mages back in the Imperium who have experimented with revolutionary new healing techniques to replace or even regrow severed limbs and body parts. I'm sure any one of them could be convinced to save the life of the Inquisitor." Dorian proposed, hoping to be able to save his friend.

Vivienne shook her head disappointedly. "That would all be for naught, I'm afraid. There are no mages in Thedas who are familiar with the workings and power of ancient elven magic. I hate to say it, but I think the only one who could possibly be of any assistance now would be Solas."

"Yeah? Too bad that bald crybaby took off after Coryph-anus broke that oh-so-precious Orb. All that creepy elfy stuff of his might have been useful for once." Sera scoffed with disgust.

Rajmael gently placed his hand on Cassandra's face, and she pressed tightly to her cheek. In that instant, Cassandra allowed herself a moment of weakness and shed a tear of loss for the man she loved so much.

"Cassandra, you were the only thing that made my life with the Inquisition bearable. Everything I've been through, everything I suffered as the Inquisitor, it was all worth it to be with you." Rajmael spoke truthfully with tender care in his voice, trying to comfort the woman he loved.

"Oh, Rajmael, loving you has been the greatest joy of my life...I just wish we had more time." Cassandra wept sorrowfully. She thought Rajmael had died twice already, and both times she wished she had died with him. She wished with all her heart that the Maker would have been kind to her and Rajmael.

"When I...when I am gone, Cassandra, you will be the new Inquisitor." Rajmael spoke gently and full of regret. "This is a terrible burden, and I would never wish it on the woman I love, but there is no one else I trust more to carry this mantle after me."

"Be strong, my love. You're not dead yet, and I refuse to give you up." Cassandra said, her was voice soft but her determination was ironclad.

Rajmael then pushed aside all feelings of grief, turmoil and doubt from his mind. Now wasn't the time for weakness, but to be the Inquisitor. "Come on everyone, one last mission together. And if this is to be our last fight together, let's make sure it ends with flame and glory. I am honored to lead you into battle one last time."

Hawke cut his thumb on his sword and ritualistically swiped his trademark blood mark on his face. His signature before going into battle to the death. "Then let's not keep our enemies waiting any longer."

"One more fight, then. Let's make sure the Qunari never forget this day, and why this was the worst mistake they could ever make. Let's finish this!" Ranier said with staunch determination.

"Fuck yeah!" Iron Bull shouted enthusiastically. "It's been an honor kicking ass with you guys. Anaan!"

Aedan laughed with sadistic excitement, holding his replacement axe ready. "And my lifelong dream of invading another people finally comes true!"

Rajmael and his companions walked through the Eluvian and back into the Crossroads, where they followed the path to the previously inactive mirror they had found earlier with the dead Qunari soldier slumped against it. This mirror was open to them now, their path to the Viddasala and Eva was clear now. It was time to show the Viddasala and her Ben-Hessrath what it truly meant to be invaded.

Soon, At The Darvaarad...

The Inquisitor and his comrades emerged from the Eluvian and found themselves standing within a mighty and extremely well-defended fortress. Unassailable towers connected by mighty battlements with narrow passes, all built within the rocks and foundations of some unknown island in the middle of the ocean. They were so high up in the fortress they could see the private harbor below, where nearly a dozen Qunar dreadnaughts were moored, the perfect transport for an invasion force. All the while, there were masterfully crafted statues of Qunari warriors and philosophers extolling the might and wisdom of the Qun.

Outwardly, it seemed like this place was built to withstand an endless siege, when in reality, it was meant to house, study, and lock up all the magic artifacts that the Viddasala had collected. Given the Qunari's fear of magic, they wanted to make sure nothing housed here could ever do harm or escape.

Rajmael felt a twinge of doubt and worry tug at his chest. Eva was in here somewhere, where the Qunari studied and neutralized anything magical, and he could not help but feel scared for her. How was he going to find in her in all of this?

"Look at this! An eluvian graveyard!" Dorian observed, and pointed to the nearby massive stockpile of inactive and shattered eluvians. There were several masked and chained sarebaas standing before their own respective eluvians, and they in turn were surrounded by a heavily armed squad of Qunari soldiers, who stood ready to cut down their own mages if needs be, for the Qunari did not trust even their own. Streams of magic energy crackled from the clawed hands of the sarebaas to the broken eluvians that stood before them, but it didn't look like they were trying to destroy the mirrors any further. It looked as though they were actually trying to repair these broken mirrors.

"Where did the Qunari get all these? Have they been studying the eluvians?" Rajmael asked as felt a surge of outrage and anger twinge in the back of his mind for this sacrilege. These Qunari were using the Eluvians, the legacy of his people, as weapons of war for their own brand of bigotry. They've already caused enough damage with the eluvians they managed to activate, now they wanted even more. This could not be allowed to happen.

Fortunately for them, the sarebaas were so focused on their task, and their jailors were so focused on them, that all of the Qunari managed to not notice the rather large group of pissed off baas that just walked through the eluvian, armed and ready to burn this place to the ground. Sometimes, too much focus could be a weakness.

"Zevran, Cole, Varric and Sera, take out those Qunari, and make sure you do it quietly. We don't want anyone to raise the alarm just yet." Rajmael ordered quietly so they would not be heard.

The four rogues silently snuck their way behind the group of Qunari. The enemy was so focused on their own tasks that they never even noticed the threats behind them. Varric and Sera deftly shot the soldiers at the base of their brainstems, while Cole and Zevran stabbed them through their hearts, killing them instantly and without a sound. By the time the couple of sarebaas began to sense that something was amiss, it was too late, and they too were assassinated by bow and blade before they could even take their eyes off the mirrors.

With these initial Qunari dead, everyone made their way from the eluvian stockpile and across the giant tower bridge towards the massive courtyard atop the battlements. That looked like where the main entrance to all the paths in this fortress were. As they moved up the long, wide staircase up to the courtyard, Rajmael felt his hand flaring up again, the green magic of the Anchor sparking out of it like embers.

"Your hand, it's hurting." Cole said worriedly.

"It's fine, Cole. I can manage." Rajmael assured, trying to keep a strong visage even as the pain became more and more unbearable.

"What I don't understand is why are the Qunari calling this plan 'Dragon's Breath'. What do dragons have to do with assassinating heads of state? I don't understand any of this." Cassandra said curiously.

"Qunari have a natural infatuation with dragons, Seeker. Maybe they seek to act as dragons and wipe out all threats in their path to become top of the food chain by burning them all with fire." Hawke suggested.

"The South is still weak from warring with Corypheus. If this Dragon's Breath plot succeeds, Tevinter won't be able to hold them back. All of Thedas could fall!" Dorian thought aloud, deeply disturbed by the prospect.

"And with the way things are looking, it doesn't look like we'll have an Inquisitor to save this time." Ranier added and was just as disturbed by such a prospect.

"It's brutal, and I don't think the Qun is really behind this, but it does make a certain kind of sense." Iron Bull informed. Being a former high-level agent of the Ben-Hessrath, he had a clear insight into the Qunari's mindset. "We hear all kinds of stories back in Seheron about the South, and a lot of it looked pretty accurate during my time in Orlais. Who wouldn't want to slay the oppressive nobles and free the people?"

"Yeah, and we hear all kinds of stories about the Qunari back in the South, and everything I've seen hear proves us right." Aedan rebutted derisively, his words sounding more like a threat than anything else. "Who wouldn't want to invade the horn-headed religious zealots out to destroy all free will and replace it with their own oppressive indoctrination. I certainly would."

"Perhaps we can save such worries for later, gentlemen. I think we have more immediate concerns." Zevran stated reminding them, especially Aedan, why they were here.

Rajmael took a moment to survey the enemy fortress. The Darvaarad was immense, massive, who knows how many chambers there were, and they had no way of telling where the Viddasala was, or where to find Eva. They wouldn't be able to look for her if they were all in a skirmish with all the Qunari soldiers that were stationed here. They had to change tactics.

"This place is huge, we're never going to find anything sticking together like this." Rajmael stated. "Here's what we'll do: Hawke, Varric and Dorian will scout ahead. Keep to the shadows and see if you can find anything useful. See if you can find out where they're keeping Eva. The rest of us will push forward, distract the Qunari and keep them off Hawke. With any luck, our separate efforts will discover more."

Hawke nodded his head in agreement and assessed the tactics. "Good idea. A few people can cover more ground, and none of us will have to face these Qunaris' full strength. And even if one group does get overtaken, the rest of us will still have a shot carrying out the mission."

"If it means I'll stay further away from these Qunari fanatics, then it's an ingenious plan." Dorian concurred.

"Hopefully this won't end like Chateau Haine with Hawke winding up in a dungeon and me having to save him." Varric joked.

"Yeah, good idea..." said Aedan, but it didn't seem like he was really paying attention. It looked as though something else was distracting him terribly.

"Aedan, is something wrong? Aside from the fact that we're in the heart of an impenetrable Qunari fortress surrounded by hostile religious zealots bent on global conquest?" Zevran asked with his trademark repartee.

"I don't know." Aedan answered, still distracted like something was trying to capture his focus elsewhere. "I feel...something. A sensation I don't know how to describe. Like something's pulling at the back of my mind. Like...like something's calling out to me, demanding my attention."

"Well...that's not creepy." Varric commented. "If you start hearing voices in your head, try not to listen. Unless they tell you where we can find some good ale around here."

"Trust me, you never want to know what the voices in my head tell me." Aedan responded with grisly sarcasm. "Happy hunting, Sergeant."

"Let's show these Qunari why it's always a bad idea to piss off us dog-lords." Hawke smiled enthusiastically. "Time to remind them how I became Champion the first place."

~XoXoXo~

While Hawke, Varric, and Dorian broke off from the rest of the group to search the nearby towers, Rajmael led the rest of them up the massive stairwell to the main entryway of the fortress. As was to be expected, their was a large contingency of soldiers standing guard, and they had something for everybody. The Qunari soldiers were being led by a powerful-looking Sten in full battle armor, and wielding a giant warhammer. The infantrymen formed ranks behind their thick tower-shields with their lance-throwers behind them. In the back of the ranks stood several of their sarebaas, who stood ready with their magic, and their Arvaraad stood close to them with a massive maul to crush the enemy. And to top it all off, there were several of their agents clinging to the shadows as they moved to outflank the intruders.

This was going to be a tough fight, especially since they were fighting on the Qunari's territory. However, the Qunari had vastly underestimated the sheer willpower of people who would fight for the survival of everything they held dear. The Qunari were incapable of understanding the lengths such devotion would drive people to go to, even in a world as imperfect as theirs. And it was this inability to understand that would lead to these Qunari's downfall.

The Sten shouted a command in Qunlat, and the javelin-throwers hurled their projectiles at the intruders. As well-disciplined and skilled as the soldiers of the Qun were, they were not very adaptive as combatants, always using the same tactics that had been drilled into them in training. At this point, Rajmael and his companions had learned their battle patterns.

Rajmael was in no mood to receive any gifts from the Qunari, and decided to send their welcoming presents back to them. He struck the ground with his sword, creating a magical blast of telekinetic energy that knocked the javelins right out of the air. Before the throwing spears touched the ground, the Inquisitor swung his sword at them and sent the javelins flying back so fast that their owners didn't have time to evade, and were impaled like butterflies pinned by needles with their own weapons.

Not giving the Qunari the chance to maintain ranks and have the battlefield advantage, Aedan and the Iron Bull charged the enemy formation at full speed. Aedan roared like a beast, and smashed right through the shield wall, while Iron Bull reared back his massive axe and swung it a wide arc and struck two shield-bearers so hard the force of the blow sent them flying off their feet. Another one tried to attack the Iron Bull on his blindside, but the highly-trained former Ben-Hessrath had trained himself to sense when someone tried pulling something like that. He brought his heavy axe down on the infantryman's shield, and split it right in half, cutting off the arm that held it. The Qunari soldier screamed in pain at the sight of his own severed stump. The soldier's screaming was silenced when the Iron Bull split his skull in half, just like he did the soldier's shield.

Aedan dropped his replacement axe and tackled the Sten leading this squad, and drove him straight into a nearby wall with enough force to crack the Qunari officer's heavy armor. The Sten had the wind knocked out of him, but refused to stop fighting. He swung his massive cudgel at Aedan, aiming to crush his head like a melon. Aedan caught the hammer in his hand and snatched it out of his opponent's grip, then swung the hammer right back at it's original owner, crushing his breast plate and all his ribs. The Sten slumped against the wall, no longer able stand, or even breath, because his own broken ribs had pierced his lungs. The last thing the Sten saw, was Aedan's mailed boot stomping on his face, and crushing his helmet, horns, and skull against the wall. As far as gruesome deaths go, having his head crushed under Aedan Cousland's heel was the most merciful way to meet his end.

One of the Qunari ran behind Aedan to stab him in the back with his sword. Ironically, the Qunari soldier was stopped before he could even get close to Aedan when Zevran expertly threw a knife into the soldier's back and severed his spinal column. Most people who would leave themselves open to such an attack would be considered amateurish, but not Aedan Cousland. He knew that Zevran had his back, and by exposing himself to an attack, it created an opportunity for the Antivan assassin to do what he does best: kill people when they're not looking.

With their ranks broken and their commanding officer killed, the rest of the Inquisition attacked before the Qunari could come back to formation. The Arvaraad released the two sarebaas under his command, and allowed them the only task they were permitted: to destroy their enemies. One of the sarebaas tried conjuring a vortex of destructive energy to kill the as many of the intruders as he could, while giving his own comrades time to form ranks. Cassandra focused her own will to cancel the mage's spell before it even happened, then the Seeker used her sword to cut off the sarebaas' head before he could do anything else.

The second sarebaas magically shot straight up into the air like an Orlesian firework in an attempt to get away from the Seeker's abilities, and to hurdle back down to the ground and bring a small magic explosion on the enemy. Vivienne anticipated this attack, having seen it done previously before. She focused her mana and shot a cone of ice magic through the gem on her staff that enveloped the Qunari mage as it soared through the air. Vivienne's attack turned the sarebaas into a block of ice mid-air, and it shattered into many fragments when it crashed back down to the ground.

While the Inquisitor and their residential warriors engaged the soldiers, Zevran and Cole dueled with the Qunari rogues in the shadows. These agents of the Qun were highly adept in the arts of assassination and sabotage, and their uncommon size did nothing hinder their ability to blend in the darkness and remain silent. The Ben-Hessrath trained their saboteurs well. However, Zevran and Cole were something else entirely.

For nearly eight centuries the Antivan Crows have been perfecting the art of assassination, sabotage, and espionage, and Zevran Arinai was amongst the best in that entire grisly history. And while Cole may have no longer been a spirit, he came into existence as a living secret, a whisper that couldn't be seen, only felt. He knew what it truly meant to be unseen. He wasn't trained for it; it was original his purpose for existence.

Sparks flashed in the darkness as metal scraped against metal, followed by the sounds of flesh being carved, the held back sounds of pain. One of the Qunari agents crawled out of the darkness, clutching her neck, and trying to keep to keep the open wound there closed. She crawled for about five seconds before her lifeblood seeped out onto the ground, and died. The second Qunari rogue fell out of the darkness with an Antivan dagger lodged at the base of his skull. Cole and Zevran emerged from the shadows, and the Antivan Crow retracted his dagger from the slain Qunari's corpse. These agents were good, but both the former Antivan Crow and former Spirit of Compassion had fought better.

Zevran looked over to his companions in the fray, and saw they had a good handle on the situation.

Sera was keeping the soldiers from forming ranks to fight back against them by harassing them with arrow aimed at their soft spots. Hard to make a shield-wall when they couldn't defend from arrows flying at them in all directions. The Qunari infantry wore heavy armor and their shields were cumbersome, making it difficult to keep up and track the movements of the faster, lightly armored thief. Each arrow from Sera's bow hit the Qunari where their armor was weak: in the neck, under the arms, even their eyes and mouths. The Red Jenny decided to add a little more chaos to the party by tossing one of her special Fire Flasks at them. The special glass container rolled underneath the Qunaris' shields, and the unstable concoction inside it exploded into a ball of fire. The unfortunate Qunari soldiers were sent flying, their bodies aflame, and they all screamed in horrible pain as they roasted alive in their own armor like meat on a frying pain.

Ranier charged one of the enemies with his shield, driving all his force behind his attack. The Qunari soldier couldn't withstand the power behind the human warrior's attack, and his face was smashed face against the front of Ranier's shield and fractured his skull and horns. Ranier didn't notice the two that came at him from behind, and before he could react to the oncoming danger their blades were already diving towards his back. The Qunari's swords broke against Ranier's heavy armor, and too late did they realize the folly of trying to stab this man in the back when Ranier spun around to see them, torqueing his sword at them, and knocked off both their heads a single swing of his mace, and sent them flying across the courtyard.

While his companions engaged the Qunari guarding the entryway, Rajmael took notice of one Qunari in particular. He was powerfully built and wearing very protective silverite armor, his face covered by a wire-face helmet, except for his horn the curled over his head like ram horns. In one hand he held a double-edged serrated sword with teeth like a saw, meant for ripping and tearing rather than slicing. But it was this Qunari officer's sword and armor Rajmael was taking notice of, it was the strange rod he carried in his other hand. It was long and heavy, with strange etchings carved into it surfaces, and the tip of it hummed with a strange energy Rajmael was unfamiliar with. This Qunari used that rod like an activation device when he unleashed the two sarebaas to attack them.

Rajmael had learned of such warriors amongst the Qunari from Iron Bull; they were called Arvaraad, "ones that hold back evil". Their role in the Qunari military was to hunt down Tal-Vashoth, people who had not been converted to the Qun, and to hold the leash of Qunari mages. To watch them for any signs of corruption, and kill them, and anyone in contact with them, should any form of what the Qun deigns as corruption. If anyone here might know where Eva is, it would be this beast that kept the mages of the Qun in bounds.

Rajmael strode across the scene of battle with silent determination in his steps, his eyes smoldering golden with anger, as he approached his target. The Arvaraad saw the mark on Rajmael's hand, and knew instantly who he was, and assumed a fighting stance with his serrated sword.

"Where is she?" Rajmael asked the Qunari warrior, his eyes burning angrily.

The Qunari officer swung his gruesome weapon at the Inquisitor, trying to rip him to shreds, but the teeth of his sword passed through elf as if he wasn't even there when he activated his Shimmering Shield that made him incorporeal. The Arvaraad kept backing away from the angry elf as he kept walking closer and closer to him, that mark still burning in his hand.

"Where is she?" Rajmael repeated while ire began to rise.

The Arvaraad took another swing at the Inquisitor with every intent on killing him with a single blow. Rajmael simply dodged the massive saw-sword like it was moving slower than a tortoise, and just kept approaching his larger opponent.

"Where is she!?" Rajmael demanded angrily, his fists clenched, and never breaking his stride towards the Arvaraad.

The Arvaraad yelled a fearsome war cry, refusing to back down to this foreign sarabaas any longer. He would end the threat he posed to Thedas right now. Screaming ferociously, the Arvaraad swung his sword at the Inquisitor, aiming to knock his head right off his shoulders.

Within a Rajmael drew his sword from his hip, its blade burning with veilfire, and met the Arvaraad's gruesome weapon in mid-swing. Rajmael's elven blade split the Qunari sword right in half, rendering the Qunari officer unarmed.

"WHERE IS SHE!?" The Inquisitor screamed furiously, both his golden eyes and white sword burning like torches and fueled by rage.

The Arvaraad stood his ground, still refusing to back down to his enemy. He clenched the rod he used to control the sarebaas under his command and pointed it towards the Inquisitor, hoping that its power would have the same effect on the Inquisitor. Rajmael's sword sliced off the Arvaraad's hand off right at the wrist before the Qunari's anti-magical weapon could even be activated, and his severed hand fell to the ground.

The Arvaraad fell to his knee screaming in pain, grasping his severed limb with his remaining hand as ropes of blood spurted from the freshly made stump. He grunted and hissed through his teeth, trying to hold back his pain. Even in the face of death, a soldier of the Qun must never show weakness to his enemies. Even with the Inquisitor's sword pressed against his neck.

"Where is my daughter, Qunari?" Rajmael asked for the last time and held his sword dangerously close to the Arvaraad's throat.

"She will know the certainty of the Qun, and her place will be where all sarebaas belong, as the Qun demands. The South will finally be purged of the chaos and corruption that plagues it, but you won't be there to see any of it." The Arvaraad growled with hate dripping in his voice.

"Neither will you." Rajmael's angry voice was the last thing the Arvaraad heard when the elf's blade effortlessly cut through the Arvaraad's neck and dropped his horned head to the ground.

The Inquisitor kicked the Arvaraad's decapitated horned head away from him. He sure wasn't going to give him any information now. He grasped his left arm firmly, the pain in his hand began flaring up again, but he couldn't let it bother him now. He took a moment to survey and the courtyard and check to see if his companions were all unharmed.

"Is everyone alright?"

"Never better, Boss." Iron Bull panted with a satisfied smile on his face, his musclebound body covered in a sheen of sweat.

"Yeah! Nothin' better than showin' up on some other tits' front door and showin' they ain't hot-shite after all." Sera giggled.

"This squad was ready for a fight, but I don't think anyone expected us to just come right out of the blue. We still got the element of surprise on our side, so long as nobody raises the alarm." Ranier said tactically.

"These Qunari are very well trained, but it's like they're only trained to fight one way. They don't seem very capable of adapting to different methods or combat styles they haven't encountered." Cassandra observed while she wiped the blood off her sword.

"Indeed." Zevran said concurred. "These are nothing like the Tal-Vashoth I've fought in the past. All rage and no discipline, it made them predictable. But too much discipline can made an enemy just predictable."

"That fact is doubly true for their mages. I could almost predict what attacks they were going to make. It's as if the Qunari train them for anything else than to act as attack dogs." Vivienne stated.

"That's because they don't know anything else." Cole spoke out as he looked down on the bodies of the slain Qunari with genuine sympathy. "They know nothing about using magic to heal, help, or even find pride within themselves. They are dangerous, susceptible to demons, must be bound and leashed and watched. Never to be trusted. Their only peace is in the Qun, which uses them as weapons. Such a sad life."

Aedan scowled at the body of the Sten whose head he crushed beneath his boot and spat hatefully on it. "And the Qunari think themselves such an enlightened people. Order without even the most basic freedoms is just another form of slavery. All the more reason why Thedas should have thrown them back into the sea two hundred years ago."

"What I want to know is what exactly happened to you back there, Aedan." Zevran said with both concern and curiosity. "I know you keep me around to watch your back, but it's not like you to leave yourself so wide open in the middle of a fight. If I hadn't stepped in, you'd have a piece of Qunari steel sticking out of your back.

"Indeed, I noticed that as well." Cassandra said almost chidingly. She was just as concerned and slightly disappointed with the Hero. "I would think that someone with your war-record, and a general at that, would know how fatal being distracted in combat is."

Aedan shrugged as if he had no answer he could explain. "I don't know what it is. That strange sensation I felt when we arrived, it's getting stronger. Like something's clawing at the back of my mind, calling out to me. Like an echo that won't stop screaming. If I were still a Grey Warden, and had the taint in my veins, I'd swear it was the Calling. But this is something different, yet somehow, just as powerful."

"Instead of wondering about General Cousland's mental stability, questionable as it is, perhaps we should focus more of our attention on that." Vivienne pointed to the door that the now slain Qunari had guarded so diligently with their lives.

It was a colossal thing. To call it a door was simply not strong enough to describe it. The barrier blocking their path into the Darvaarad was more like a giant vault forged from the heaviest steel, and reinforced with thick metal bars that kept it from swinging open. Whoever built this vault-door wanted to make absolutely certain that no one but break into it. After all, the only reason to hide anything behind a vaulted door was because no one wanted it to be stolen or found.

There was a nearby panel locked inside a caged barrier right in front of them. On it was a series of unmarked levers and wheels. Was this the mechanism to opening the giant door?

Sera wolf-whistled at the giant door like it was an attractive woman. "Yeah, I don't think even I can pick that monster. Not without a arse-load of pick kits, some olive oil, and maybe some raw lyrium for that extra kick."

"And we don't have nearly enough ordinance with us to blow that thing off its hinges." Ranier stated.

"I've got a couple of my specially made lyrium bombs, courtesy of Voldrik Glavinok, but this thing's made of solid silverite. My bombs are more likely to hurt us, than the door, and would definetly bring more attention to us." Aedan spoke out, and holding out one of his extremely powerful grenades.

"Couldn't we try using that panel to open it? That's what it's there for." Cole asked innocently.

"Wouldn't recommend that, Kid." Iron Bull answered. "This is a specially made puzzle-door, meant to absolute keep intruders out. If you try messing with the gears to open it and don't know the right sequence, you risk locking it up even tighter."

"Well, perhaps, we'll find some answers inside one of those towers." Said Rajmael, still surveying the area. He saw a nearby parapet and recalled that the Qunari they just killed looked like they were standing post in front of it. "The squad was posted here had to be protecting more than just a sealed door. Let's check that tower out. Maybe there's something that can tell us how to open this damned thing, or what the extent of this Dragon's Breath is."

The Inquisitor and his followers quickly walked over to the nearby parapet overlooking the rest of the fortress. Sera was able to pick the lock to the tower without much issue. The ease with which was extremely surprising, especially when they found out what was in this tower. They made their down to the lower level of this space, and discovered something more dangerous than blackpowder, and just as horrific as any Abomination they had encountered: Red Lyrium.

All around them, in specially sealed crates, and even in glass observing containers, was an entire storehouse of that vile ore Corypheus used to fuel his campaign towards godhood. Lyrium that had been corrupted by the taint and used to murder and poison countless people, and turned men in monsters for the Elder One's army. For the past two years, Rajmael waged his own campaign of trying to scrounge up and destroy every ounce of red lyrium the Inquisition could find. Even all the red lyrium that had been farmed in the quarries of Sarhnia had been eradicated, yet still the Qunari managed to find this much of it.

"Aw, shit." Sera cursed.

"Here I was hoping to never see this vile material ever again." Ranier groaned.

"Madre, what is this? Is it lyrium?" Zevran asked. His nose wrinkled from the terrible stench these red crystals somehow gave off. "It feels like they're giving off heat, yet somehow they stick, like there's a sickness in the air."

"This must be the Red Lyrium Leliana told us about." Aedan realized, sharing Zevran's disgust. "The stuff the Elder One used to enhance his power." The Hero of Ferelden looked at red crystals as if they offended his eyes. "I've been around lyrium for most of my career, seen every manner of use it could have, yet I've never seen anything like this. Just what is it?"

"Nothing like anything anyone has ever seen, General." Vivienne answered. "Corypheus somehow tainted lyrium and used it as fuel, feeding off its power. Being a darkspawn himself, the Elder One was able to tap into and increase his magic to levels none of us have ever seen."

"And now it seems the Qunari are trying to study that power." Cassandra realized. "Just like that lyrium mine they were harvesting in the Deep Roads, they've realized the power of something that isn't based on magic, something that can be used as a weapon. They must be studying it to find a way to harness its power, like Corypheus did. Iron Bull, didn't you tell them the dangers of red lyrium?"

"Believe me, Seeker, it was something I heavily emphasized on in my reports." Iron Bull swore truthfully. "But after I went Tal-Vashoth, and let that shipment of red lyrium get to Minrathous, I guess the Ben-Hessrath decided the value of my reports amounted to absolute shit."

"One thing is for certain: we can't let Viddasala have all this red lyrium. No one should have it." Rajmael stated grimly. "We have to destroy it all."

Aedan pulled out one of his lyrium bombs with that wide grin on his face. "I can set up my grenades to do a timed explosion that will turn this tower and everything inside it to smoldering rubble. Lyrium itself is extremely volatile, and red lyrium is worse than the regular stuff, so when the explosion goes off, it will take out a chunk of this fortress. Give me some time and watch out for any more guards. It's going to take me a few moments to make sure the bombs are set off right."

Meanwhile...

Hawke, Varric, and Dorian took a different path from the main entrance towards the eastern towers. They were very tall and very well built, obviously meant to house something important. If there was anything worth hiding, it was often best to keep them as far out of reach from others as possible. Perhaps they could get some kind of intel, or at the very least, get a bird's eye view of the fortress' layout.

All three of them clung to the darkness like shadows, so as to not be seen by any passing guards. Yet, strangely, when they approached the tower entrance, the soldiers who were suppose to be standing guard here had already been taken care of. They were slumped against the tower's entrance and sprawled on the ground.

Hawke carefully approached the laid out soldiers and inspected them. There was no blood, not even signs of a struggle, like these men didn't see it coming. They weren't dead, merely unconscious. Someone they weren't expecting, someone they knew, got the drop on these and knocked them out cold. Was it one of those Agents of Fen'heral who had been harassing the Qunari? If so, why didn't this mystery person kill these Qunari? Something strange was going on, and it had to do with whatever was inside this tower.

Just Earlier, Within The Tower...

Tallis hurried her way up the tower where Eva was being kept as fast as she could, hoping that she wasn't too late to stop this insanity the girl had been swept into. The letter she found in the Viddasala's office made everything clear. Tallis knew what she had to do, and for the first time in her life, her conscience and loyalty to the Qun were not in conflict.

Earlier, she knocked out the soldiers who were guarding the entrance to the tower. They didn't see it coming, so it was easy for her to knock them out cold. Those guards didn't deserve to die, they were only doing their duty within the Qun, but Tallis couldn't let them get in her way when she made her exit. She just hoped she wasn't too late.

Tallis unlocked the cell Eva was being held in at the top of the tower. As she expected, Eva glared viciously at her when she entered, but this time Tallis had no time to try and exchange witty banter with the Dalish child. They needed to get out of here."

"What do you want this time?" Eva demanded annoyed. Her annoyance quickly turned to confusion when Tallis approached her and undid the locks to the chains that kept her tethered to the wall and suppressed her magic. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"There's no time to talk. I have to get you out of here." Tallis answered quickly.

"After all the time and effort you put into getting capturing and interrogating me, why do you suddenly not want me to be here?" Eva asked, glaring at Tallis suspiciously.

"We don't have time for this, Eva. We both need to get out of here before anyone finds out what I'm doing, and before the Viddasala can carry out this lunacy of hers." Tallis argued. She undid Eva's shackles, and was ready to take her out of this place, but when she turned around towards the door, Tallis felt her heart sink. Her comrade and cohort in this mission, the elf Isskar, was standing between them and exit.

"Tallis? What is the meaning of this? Why have you unchained this sarebaas!?" Isskari demanded of his fellow Qunari, completely outraged.

There was no getting around this. There wasn't a lie or excuse Tallis could make that Isskari would believe. "Sorry, but this is exactly what it looks like, Isskari. I'm getting Eva out of here, and I'm taking her home, where she belongs."

"What madness could posses you to make you forsake the Qun so entirely?" Isskari asked, more abhorred than curious.

"Because this isn't a demand of the Qun, none of it is! It's all madness!" Tallis shouted to the other elf. She yanked the letter she found in the Viddasala's office and showed it to Isskari. "Here, look at this. This right here proves that everything going on here, is against the will of the Qun. The Viddasala had no right dragging Eva into this."

Isskari didn't bother taking the evidence Tallis was trying to give him. He only stared at her with cold disappointment. "Tallis, I already know what that letter says. The Viddasala's already told me, and all of her top officers."

A look of crushing shock veiled Tallis' face, like she couldn't believe what she had just heard. "What? You knew? All this time and you didn't tell me?"

"Your history of insubordination, and your constant conflict with what the Qun demands of you in your role, made that an unfortunate necessity, Tallis." Isskari answered with cold indifference. "How many times have you failed in your mission, or defied the Qun, simply because you allowed your personal feelings to interfere with what must be done? Even now, you're falling to that personal weakness of yours and letting your feelings of misplaced sympathy cloud your judgment."

"You honestly think kidnapping this girl, torturing her for information, and setting fire to the South is the best way to serve the Qun? It goes against everything I believe the Qun to be!" Tallis argued.

"Then you have not truly discovered the truth of enlightenment. Another personal failure on your part." Isskari admonished unsympathetically. "The Qun is meant to protect people from the dangers of the world, and themselves. After seeing the failures of our ancestors, and the dangers the Inquisition allows, I know more than ever that we're on the right path. All the deaths and all the destruction that's going to happen is the price we must pay to save the world from itself, and to achieve the enlightenment of the Qun."

"You...you actually believe that. You truly believe that this is the right thing." Tallis stated, completely disturbed by Isskari's zealotry.

Isskari reached his hand out to Tallis, beckoning her to come to him. "It isn't too late, Tallis. You can still be part of the greatest victory in the Qun's history. This was nothing more than a lapse in judgment due to sympathy for the sarebaas and all her kind. I am sure the Viddasala will understand."

There was a brief moment of silence in the cell, the tension in the air was so intense that it one could choke on it.

Tallis searched herself for the answer inside herself. Then she found her resolve. She knew what she believe in the Qun, and this wasn't it. "I'm sorry, Isskari, but no. This isn't what the Qun represents. I know what the Qun means to me, and this isn't it!"

Isskari withdrew his hand, his eyes filled with cold anger and deep disappointment, and drew the knife strapped to the back of his hip. "Then I must do what I believe the Qun demands of me. I am sorry, Tallis."

The two elven agents drew their knives and prepared to follow their resolve in the Qun against one another. Both of them were masterful spies within the Ben-Hessrath, trained for years in the arts of sabotage and assassination. This would not be an easy battle for either of them.

"Forgive me Tallis, but you and the sarebaas will not be living this place." Isskari promised with unfeeling confidence.

"Stop calling me sarebaas!" Eva screamed in anger.

Then a ball of flame suddenly, and out of nowhere, flew through the cell like comet. The fireball went straight at the Isskari and struck him in the head, setting his face and scalp on fire. Isskari screamed in horrible pain while his skull burned like a jack-o'-lantern . He panicked and clutched at his own head, striking himself and tried to put out the flames.

Eva had gotten tired of listening to these two elven Qunari arguing their philosophical difference about this oppressive theology, so she used her magic to conjure a fireball and threw it at Isskari's head. After everything that traitorous flat-ear put her through, Eva decided to take a moment and watch him run around with his head on fire. Then she did that move Rajmael once showed her, and did a flying side-kick at Isskari's burning head.

"When you're fish food, tell them Eva of Clan Lavellan sent you, asshole!" Eva yelled at the immolated Qunari agent as his head smoldered in front of them.

Isskari stumbled backwards, crying out in pain, the force of Eva's kick and agony of having his head on fire, made him lose balance and he was knocked over the ledge of the tower. Isskari's scream filled the air as he fell from the tower, screaming the entire way down, leaving a trail of smoke from his smoldering skull behind that continued burning, even after his body smashed upon the rocks below, turning him into a stain on the surface. The fire was snuffed out and the stain of his body was washed away when the ocean waved crashed on the island.

Tallis couldn't believe what she just saw. Obviously, she knew that, as a mage, Eva posed a threat, but she never expected the young Dalish child to be so...capable. Just what did Clan Lavellan teach their mages? And if Eva was this impressive, how dangerous must her father be? The prospect of meeting the Inquisitor, who would obviously be incredibly ticked off, made Tallis a little nervous.

"What?" Eva asked, noticing how Tallis was staring. "You two were taking forever with your theological debate, and besides, after what that bastard put me through, setting his head on fire and kicking him onto the rocks down there was the least he deserved. So, we leaving or not?"

"Wait here a moment, Eva. I need to make sure that it's safe." Tallis insisted.

Eva stood there and pouted while Tallis left to go check the exit. While she stood there, all Eva could think about was what Tallis and the now deceased Isskari had told her earlier. Was it true? Was Rajmael really dying? She had to see him again, she couldn't let it end like this.

"AAAHHH!"

Eva's pouting and thoughts of her step-father were interrupted by the surprised scream of Tallis' voice. They must have been discovered. Eva rushed out to help Tallis, and when she got out there, she was shocked by what she was seeing. Tallis had been pushed over the edge of the tower and was now hanging upside-down and being held in precariously from gravity's pull by a strange human in black armor with a red mark smeared across his face. He was holding Tallis by her ankles and had a really pissed off look on his face.

Present Time...

Hawke, Varric, and Dorian, ran up the tower as fast as they could, stepping over the unconscious bodies of the guards that had been standing post here. Whoever did this, they were obviously very capable. Knocking out an adversary is much more difficult than killing them, and it demonstrated a sense of compassion Hawke didn't expect to find here. Why risk breaking into this tower, full of zealous Qunari soldiers, only to not dispatch them? It was most unusual.

Just as Hawke made his way to the top of the tower's staircase, he ran into a certain redheaded elf he had not seen in a very long time, nor ever wanted to see again. Without wasting even a second, and before the aforementioned elf could realize who she just ran into, Hawke shoved her right over the ledge of the tower, but quickly grabbed her by her ankles before she could fall victim to gravity and wind up as a stain on the rocks below, rendering her completely helpless.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this just a kick in the head, don't you think, Varric?" Hawke asked sarcastically, raising his voice so that the Qunari agent held in his grip would hear him. "Here we are, dealing with yet another Qunari mess, and now we bump into our favorite Qunari spy and assassin. How're tricks, Tallis?"

"That you, Hawke? Fancy meeting you here." Tallis shouted upwards, trying to very hard not to look down on the rocks Isskari had been so recently splattered on, and really hoping she wouldn't join him down there. "Look, this isn't what it looks like."

"Actually, this is exactly what it looks like, from where I'm standing." Hawke rebutted. "It looks like the Qunari causing trouble again with their self-centered goal of conquering Thedas, and replacing all forms of free will with the Qun. It looks like the Qunari are trying to assassinate all the leaders of the South. And it looks like you've been helping them. If I had to guess, I'd say you're the spy the Viddasala sent to kidnap the Inquisitor's daughter."

"Still as sharp as ever, Hawke. So far, you've hit every nail on the head." Tallis acknowledged, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling the blood rushing into her head. "But you missed one very important detail: this whole operation, the Dragon's Breath, everything the Viddasala's doing, isn't sanctioned by the Qun. All of this is her own extremism. I've the proof right here."

Hawke, however, didn't seem convinced. "So, up until now, you thought this was a sanctioned operation. And in this operation, you've committed acts of terrorism, kidnapping, sabotage, and Maker knows what else. If this was a sanctioned operation, you'd still be carrying out your orders, wouldn't you?"

"Hawke, please, you have to listen to me..." Tallis pleaded.

"I listened to you once before, and it almost started a war with Orlais!" Hawke shouted down at Tallis, shaking her, and almost dropping her. "Last time we met, I made you a promise if I ever saw you again. And I keep my promises..."

Tallis held back a gasping breath, and prepared herself for what was certain to be her end. She felt Hawke beginning to loosen his grip on her, and she knew this was it for her.

"Stop this!" Shouted a young voice.

Hawke and the others looked over and saw a young elven child with platinum-blonde hair glaring at them as if she were trying to scold them.

"Hey, Spitfire! Long time no see." Varric greeted gregariously. "You've certainly grown since we last saw each other. Hawke, this is Eva Lavellan, the Inquisitor's daughter."

"Hawke? You...you're the Champion of Kirkwall, aren't you?" Eva realized.

"Yes, I am. Eva, I'm here with your father, he brought us all here to save you and stop the Qunari." Hawke explained.

"Rajmael, he's here?" Eva asked hopefully.

"Child, that man would tear open the Veil if it meant getting you back." Dorian answered.

Eva knew she had no time to take in the emotions of truly knowing how much Rajmael cared about her, or to even acknowledge the guilt of ever believing otherwise, not when Tallis' life was literally hanging in the balance.

"Champion, please, let Tallis go, and I don't mean that literally." Eva bade.

"Little one, you have no idea the amount of harm this treacherous woman has caused." Hawke answered sternly. "Now, here she is, causing even more harm. And I swore that if she ever crossed my path again, I would kill her."

"You're right, she has done harm. Maybe she does deserve to die." Eva sighed in agreement. "But not like this. Before you came here, Tallis freed me, and was even willing to kill one of her own comrades to get me out of here. And bare this in mind, Champion: her offense wasn't against you. It was against me and Rajmael. If anyone has the right to decide Tallis' fate, it's us. And if you're any bit the Champion Rajmael had told me stories about, then you know there is no honor in killing her like this. Now, please, pull her back up."

Hawke gritted his teeth in frustration. As angry as he was with Tallis for what she put him through in the past, he knew Eva was right. Killing Tallis like this would have been dishonorable, and would only disgrace himself. If Eva was willing to vouch for her kidnapper, then that could only mean what Tallis was saying was truth. Perhaps, Tallis could yet redeem herself for what she had done.

The Champion pulled Tallis back up and set her on the solid ground, much to her own relief.

"Thanks, Hawke." Tallis said gratefully.

"Don't thank me, thank Eva, otherwise I'd have turned you'd be a Qunari pancake right now." Hawke retorted, rejecting her thanks. "You're not slinking off into the shadows this time. You're going to help us, and face the consequences of your actions. I will let the Inquisitor decide what's to be done with you. If you can help us stop this Dragon's Breath, I'll call it quits between us."

"That's fair, Hawke. I promise, you won't regret this." Tallis swore, breathing a sigh of relief to have her feet back on solid ground.

"You say you've got proof that what the Viddasala is doing is an illegal operation?" Dorian inquired.

"Yes. And if the Inquisition can find this out, then both our peoples can work to stop the Viddasala's madness." Tallis answered.

"Well, first thing's first, we gotta get Eva back to Rajmael." Varric spoke out. "I think she'll be a lot safer then where we are right now."

"Yes. Please, take me to him. I need to see him." Eva pleaded. She had to see Rajmael again, had to make things right with him.

Hawke knelt down to Eva, feeling the same need to protect this child that he always felt towards Bethany. Eva reminded him so much of his sister right now. She didn't ask for any of this, yet in spite of all the tragedy and chaos surrounding her, there was so much strength in this little girl's spirit. He had to make sure she stayed safe.

Hawke undid a leather cord around his neck and held out the amulet he kept there to Eva. The amulet was carved from a smooth dark stone, and its face was in the shape of a beautiful skyclad woman surrounded by birds. There was an ancient aura of magic surrounding it that almost hummed with power.

"Eva, I want you to hold on to this for me. It was given to me by the greatest warrior I ever met, who promised that this amulet would keep me safe in battle. I want you to hold on to for me, so it will keep you safe." Hawke gently placed the amulet around Eva's neck.

Eva rubbed the strange amulet between her fingers and felt it's magic warm her hand before looking up at Hawke with deepest gratitude. "Ma serranis, Champion."

"Ma nuvenin, da'len." Hawke responded in elven. "Now, let's get you to your father."

Hawke, Dorian, Varric, now accompanied by Tallis and Eva, made their way back down the tower. As they moved, Hawke was so preoccupied with splitting his attention between both of them, that he failed to notice that all the knocked-out Qunari he had stepped over earlier were gone. Someone had removed them, and none of them noticed.

"You have failed, Tallis. The Qun is absolute." A cold voice hissed within the darkness in the tower.

"Asit tal-eb. Ataash Qunari." Another one recited from nowhere.

"You should have stayed in hiding, Basalit-an. Now the Arishok's respect in you will be in vain. You would have made an excellent asset to the Qun." A third voice spoke with unsympathetic disappointment.

All the lights in the tower were instantly snuffed out, and everyone found themselves in complete darkness. They went back-to-back with their weapons drawn and formed a circle so that wouldn't be attacked from behind or outflanked. These Qunari agents wanted to catch them in an ambush. They couldn't let themselves be surprised.

Eva used her magic to conjure fire in both her hands, ready to fight as much as any of them. She wasn't going to stand back idly and be victim any more.

"You do realize elven eyes see better in the dark, right?" Eva challenged.

"We have recently learned this, and we're counting on it." One of the Qunari assassins said confidently.

In an instant, the once dark room erupted with a blinding bright light and an ear-piercing sound that made their heads hurt. The Qunari agents dropped several flashbangs that blinded and disoriented them. They had learned from their previous encounter with Rajmael when they fought him in the dark, and learned from their mistakes. While elves may have excellent night vision, everyone is blinded by a sudden bright light in complete darkness.

Hawke staggered to keep his bearings and not lose his footing. His eyes blinded, his ears ringing, he couldn't even tell where his comrades were standing behind him. For all his skills and his varied forms of training, he had never trained himself to fight while blind and deaf. Even if he was temporarily crippled, he refused to be helpless.

"Dorian! Set up a barrier!" Hawke shouted as loud as he could so his voice would be heard.

Before Dorian could do as he was ordered, the Tevinter felt the harsh fist of a Qunari agent smash right into his left cheek, knocking him even more senseless. The Qunari assassins had the drop on them, but they weren't here to kill them. They had a mission to carry out, and it didn't include killing the Champion or one of their own.

"Aah! No, let me go!" Eva screamed when she felt the Qunari grabbing her. She couldn't use her magic on them. Blinded, she might hit one of her rescuers.

"Let her go, damn it!" Tallis yelled. She grasped out for where she heard Eva's voice, and blindly grabbed hold of the girl's hand.

"Traitor!" One of the assassins cursed and backhanded Tallis as hard as she could.

That one little word was all Hawke needed. He pivoted around and lunged with his sword, aiming for where he heard that voice was coming from. His blind aim hit its mark, and impaled that Qunari agent through her horned head.

"We have what we came for! Let's go!" One of the remaining ordered.

"Champion!" Eva cried out as the Qunari carried her off.

Hawke could now hear the Qunari retreating, but his sight was still impaired and couldn't adjust to the darkness. "Varric!"

The dwarven merchant cocked back on Bianca, but he couldn't get a clean shot. He was still seeing double, and dared not risk Eva. Within seconds, Eva was spirited away again when those Qunari made their escape with her. "Spitfire! Damn it!"

"What do we do now, Champion?" Dorian groaned.

"We have to get back to the Inquisitor. He needs to know what's happened." Hawke affirmed.

"I know the passes of this fortress and how to by pass some of its security. I can get you to the Viddasala." Tallis stated.

"You'd help us fight against your fellow Qunari? Even kill them?" Hawke asked skeptically.

"After everything that's happened here, there is no going back. Not for me. I still believe in the Qun, but this isn't it." Tallis answered with determination. "I promised to get Eva back home, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

~XoXoXo~

Aedan had finished setting up his explosives around the tower that housed the red lyrium the Viddasala kept here. The destruction this explosion would cause would be immense, and its yield would be even greater thanks to all the red lyrium that was here, so Aedan had to make sure they would have ample time to get away from it in time, and be able to find a way to break into that giant vaulted door so they could get into the Darvaraad.

Just when Aedan had finished his preparations, and everyone made their way back to the courtyard to try and find out how to open that giant door, they welcomed the sight of Hawke, Varric and Dorian returning from their scouting mission, and they weren't alone, as Rajmael had expected. They brought someone with them, an elven lass, but not the one Rajmael was hoping to see. She had bright red hair and was wearing green armor with two daggers on her back. What caught really caught Rajmael's attention and made his sword hand twitch, was the House of Tides, the symbol of the Qunari people, stamped on the front of her armor.

"Found yet another lady friend, have you, Sergeant? Another of the Champion's conquests?" Aedan asked with quirked eyebrow.

"Eh, more like the one that got away, Hero." Varric answered.

Hawke shook his head firmly. "No, more like the one I threw back before I could reel her in."

"Then who is she, and why have you brought her here, instead of my daughter." Rajmael asked, rather disappointed in Hawke's efforts.

"Why don't you ask her." Hawke suggested, urging the redheaded elf forward. "This is Tallis, the one who hoodwinked me at Chateau Haine. She's the one who took your daughter in the first place."

"Now, before you do anything, Inquisitor..." Varric quickly spoke out the instant he saw that murderous look in Rajmael's eyes when Hawke said that. "You should know, that before we got here, Tallis was trying to save your daughter and get her out of here. She even killed one of her own comrades to save Eva."

"What? You mean you actually found Eva? Where is she!?" Rajmael asked desperately.

"We were ambushed by the Viddasala's assassins." Dorian answered with deep regret. "They got the drop on us long enough to take Eva away."

"Which is why you need me." Tallis finally spoke out. "I know how to get to the Viddasala, how to navigate this fortress. Please, I know what I did was wrong, let me try to make things right. I owe you at least that."

Rajmael didn't say anything. He didn't have to. That look of contempt painted on his face, and the anger boiling in his eyes, said everything. In split second, Tallis found herself standing with the Inquisitor's sylvanwood sword pressed dangerously to her neck.

"You owe me a lot more than that. I should kill you. If I chose to cut your head off now, I would be within my rights. Not only for what you put me and my daughter through, but for aiding in the Viddasala's crimes against Thedas." Rajmael spoke angrily, his sword never leaving Tallis' neck. "Why would you turn your back on the Viddasala's plan, and risk yourself to save Eva?"

"Because she doesn't deserve what the Viddasala wants with her, no one does." Tallis answered truthfully, trying to ignore the terrifying sensation of having the edge of the Inquisitor's sword resting right up against her jugular vein. "Everything the Viddasala is doing here, it's against what I believe the Qun to be. I...I couldn't be party to her crimes, or let your daughter be a victim of them."

"Don't trust her, Inquisitor." Aedan balked disdainfully. "She's a spy for the most fanatical religion in Thedas, and spies are deceitful by their very nature. If it was my son she took, I'd do to her exactly what I did to Howe."

Varric, Dorian, and even Ranier all turned green while Sera threw up a little in her mouth at the mere mention of Aedan's threat. They all witnessed what he did to Howe, and wouldn't wish that fate on anyone but the most vile of people.

"How can we take what she says at value?" Cassandra said suspiciously. "Her very role within the Qun is to be a spy, a thief, a liar. For all we know, she's trying to get us to lower our guard and make us easier targets."

"Boss, take it from me, I know better than anyone else, when a Ben-Hessrath agent begins to question their role for moral reasons, then they're probably damned good reasons." Iron Bull spoke out in Tallis' defense. "Is she wanted to save Eva to protect her from the Viddasala's scheme, then we want her on our side."

"She killed one of her own to save help Eva." Dorian added. "She had absolutely nothing to gain from it, but did it anyway. Perhaps she deserves some mercy, and we could certainly use her help."

"As a professional killer for most of my life, perhaps I can lend some insight." Zevran suggested. "If an assassin goes against their guild, brotherhood, or religious order's directives because of their conscience, then it's probably genuine. Or it could be an elaborate ruse to make you lower your guard so she can stab you in the back. Either one's just as likely."

"Thank you for helping my case." Tallis said sarcastically.

Rajmael looked over to the Champion, hoping to get an answer from him. "Hawke, you know her better than the rest of us, you yourself said she wronged you. Can she be trusted."

Hawke looked at Tallis for a moment, as if he was still looking for the answer himself, then looked back to the Inquisitor. "I've been burned by her before. She suckered me like no one else, not even Anders. So badly that I swore to kill her if I ever saw her again. However, she did it to save lives, even if they were the lives of people who were a threat to others. But more importantly, your daughter defended Tallis when I held her life in my hands. If Eva trusted her enough to defend her, I think we should, too."

Rajmael considered the words of his companions against Tallis' actions. After a moment of tense silence that seemed forever, the Inquisitor lowered his blade, and Tallis breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you get us inside?"

Tallis nodded her head.

"Then as of right now, your life belongs to me." Rajmael decreed, sheathing his sword. "If what you say is true, if you believe that yourself, then help me get my daughter back. And if this is some kind of trick, or you betray us, I will fucking feed you to the Hero of Ferelden myself!"

Aedan smacked his lips and growled at Tallis like a hungry animal, purposefully showing off his unnaturally sharp teeth. It seemed he quite eager for Tallis to betray their trust.

"You said you have proof that what the Viddasala is doing here isn't under the directive of the Qunari Triumvirate?" Rajmael inquired.

"Yes. Right here." Tallis reached in to her pouch and handed the Inquisitor a pair of letters, both written by two different hands of two different people. It looked as if someone crumpled these letters and threw them away.

Rajmael recognized the elegant handwriting and flawless strokes that could only belong to Josephine, and read her letter aloud. It read:

To the Honorable Salasari, Triumvirate of the Qun:

On behalf of the Inquisition, I must humbly inquire as to the hostile actions of your agents in Halamshiral. We can only view the attacks by Ben-Hassrath agents upon our officers and the infiltration and sabotage of the Exalted Council at Halamshiral as the prelude to a declaration of war. If the Qunari people do not wish to provoke retaliation from the Chantry, these hostilities must cease at once.

Respectfully,

Ambassador Josephine Montilyet of the New Inquisition.

"Hm. It would seem our dear Ambassador is as efficient as always." Dorian commented.

"She certainly didn't waste any time getting the Qun's attention. I've heard of monarchs who couldn't get something like that done so fast." Viviene complimented.

"But why is the letter here instead of on the Honorable Salasari's desk?" Varric questioned.

That was a good question indeed. Rajmael read from the second letter. The first letter was written in Qunlat, which Rajmael couldn't decipher. The second page however, was written in Common by a very bold and precise hand, by someone of authority. It read:

To Ambassador Josephine Montilyet of the Inquisition,

The Triumvirate of the Qunari people wishes to assure you that despite the loss of the dreadnought Berethlok and its crew of one hundred souls in a failed joint mission with the Inquisition two years past, military action has not been approved against the Inquisition. No one in Par Vollen has authorized actions of any kind involving the Exalted Council. Nor will they.

We are seeking out the Ben-Hassrath priest who appears to be leading this operation without our consent. Once she is located, we assure you that these hostile actions will cease.

"So it's true. Everything the Vidasala's doing, all the death and destruction she plans to carry out, none of it is sanctioned by the Qunari." Hawke said, finally believing Tallis' word.

"Man, let me tell you: if the Viddasala lives long enough to get back to Par Vollen, she's going to be in so much shit, she'll be swimming in it." Iron Bull said with hostility. "The Ben-Hessrath are suppose to enforce the Qun, but that's all. Not suppose to go out do their own thing, or make up the Qun's directives. That's how I got kicked out of it."

Zevran impulsively gave a short laugh, he just couldn't help it. "If this woman is too much of a fanatic, even by the Qun's standards, you know we're in trouble."

"These letters were suppose to reach their intended parties, but they never arrived. The Viddasala intercepted them both." Cassandra summed up logically. "She truly doesn't care that she's dragging her people into a world wide war, nor does she care how many people are going to die. She must be insane!"

"That's always been the case with fanatics and madmen. It would seem the Viddasala has more in common with Corypheus than she might thing." Ranier commented damningly.

"She doesn't care. She thinks she does, but she doesn't. All that matters is her role. Stopping magic and spreading the Qun, no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifices." Cole said anxiously.

"Her horns must be all knotted up in her brains! Well-fit, stupid-ass, bitch-face!" Sera cussed out. "How twisted can you be to think killing lots of people is a good thing!?"

"Fanatics and zealots never care about how many people have to die, so long as the ideology they serve is carried out." Vivienne said dismissively.

"Wow. This bitch and Loghain would have been two of a kind. All the more reason to murder her." Aedan commented with disgust lacing his words.

Hawke felt like he was living in a state of horrific deja vu. Like every where he went, he was having the same recurring nightmare "I've seen the damage blind zealotry like this can do. The Viddasala will murder more than she will save, and expect the world to thank her for it."

"I hope you take this into consideration in your future dealing with the Qun, Inquisitor. Not all of us are like the Viddasala, most of us just want to make the world a better place." Tallis said, hoping for a glimmer of understanding.

"Don't count on it." Rajmael said admonishingly to Tallis before angrily clenching the letters and stuffing them into his own coat. "Now get us inside."

Tallis sighed in disappointment, though she shouldn't have been surprised. Being the wounded party in all this, she should just be happy he didn't kill her. The elven qunari quickly made her way over to the large vault door that was barricading their path into the Darvaraad. She turned the gears to the right degree and pulled the levers to their proper place. The massive vault door creaked and rumbled as the gears and parts shifted inside, then the bars keeping it in place slammed back, and the giant metal door groaned loudly when it slowly opened to them.

"Okay, once we're inside, we're going to be in the heart of the Viddasala's territory. Expect heavy resistance inside." Tallis warned and pushed the door open wider. "Once we're discovered, they're going to set off the alarm, and every soldier and agent the Viddasala's got is going to come after us, if they haven't warned her already."

"Well, when those bombs in that red lyrium depot go off, everyone this side of the Amaranthine Ocean is going to no where we are." Iron Bull pointed out. "So subtly isn't a factor here anymore."

"We need to get to the Viddasala's personal office. There's scores of magical artifacts from the excavations, and documents containing all the information about the Dragon's Breath. There might even be information about these Agents of Fen'heral, or what she has planned for your daughter." Tallis stated.

"Then let's get moving." Rajmael said determinedly.

Everyone followed after Rajmael and Tallis into the threshold of the Darvaraad. They were inside for about ten seconds before they were met by yet another heavily armed squadron of Qunari guards. The Qunari had trained for this situation, the day when their walls might be breached by the baas insurgents, they had prepared for every eventuality. Sadly, there was absolutely know way of preparing to handle the Inquisitor, Hero of Ferelden, and the Champion of Kirkwall, and their companions all at once. All of them were some of the most elite, accomplished and feared warriors, mages, and killers in Thedas. They had fought things much worse than Qunari soldiers. And now, with Tallis, guiding them into the heart of their operations, these Qunari guard stood no chance.

Soon, the hallways leading into the Darvaraad were a sea of spilled blood, slain corpses and severed body parts. The hardest thing the intruders had to do was not trip over the mess they made.

"Come on. Come on!" Tallis urged hastily. "More will come soon."

"Why aren't more coming now?" Ranier inquired.

"The Viddasala has ordered most of her forces to wait within one of the spaces in the eluvians to prepare her invasion of the South. The rest of them are waiting by the ships to launch their attacks by sea." Tallis informed. "But if what you said is true, and you planted bombs in the red lyrium depot, then we need to move quickly. Once the soldiers on the dreadnoughts see the explosion, they'll charge here in force, and I don't think we can handle that many all at once."

"In here! This the Viddasala's office, where I found the letters from the Inquisition and Ariqun." Tallis urged hastily.

Everyone stepped inside the office where the Viddasala carried out all her operations, and they were impressed by the contents of the immensely spacious room inside. To call it an office was almost wrong, it was more akin to a museum. Rare artifacts, both magical and benign, from various cultures were placed neatly on their own shelves and carefully categorized by origin, purpose, and danger.

"Everyone, see if you can find anything that might tell us about the Viddasala's plans, or any information she might have gathered on this agent of Fen'heral." Rajmael instructed. "Zevran, Sera, keep watch. I have no doubt we have company coming."

The two city elven rogues did as they were asked and stood watch by the doorway.

Iron Bull marveled at a massive skull of a High Dragon with impressive horns that was hanging over the Viddasala's desk. "Man! Would you look at this! It would look great over the Inquisition's tavern."

"Look at this. An amulet that belonged to a high priest to Andoral. Perfectly preserved. I know several men in the Magisterium who would sell their first-born children for such a relic." Dorian stated as he gazed at the ornately designed draconic amulet that was imprisoned behind a locked glass case.

Hawke looked at one of the glass cases with pure astonishment on his face. It was enchanted, and probably rigged to explode if anyone tampered with it, and Hawke could truly understand why the Viddasala took such precautions. It was a staff adorned with triple dragon heads, and made entirely of smooth block stone. "Holy Andraste...I don't believe it. This staff, it belonged to First Enchanter Orsino! I'd recognize it anywhere. How the hell did she get Orsino's staff?"

"Yeah, why couldn't she have taken Meredith's petrified body out of the Gallows? Then we could blow that up with the rest of her red lyrium." Varric joked.

"Look!" Cassandra exclaimed excitedly, like she had found a priceless treasure amongst all these relics. "An original copy of 'Swords & Shield', with Guard-Captain Aveline's autograph on it!"

"Oh, yeah, I remember that one." Varric chuckled with a very satisfied smile on his face. "I had Isabella slip that book into Aveline's paperwork to trick her into signing it. When she found out, Aveline threw that copy into the gutters. I expected the rats in Darktown had eaten, or some guy used its pages in place of toilet paper."

Cassandra was far too giddy and excited to hear what Varric was saying, and quickly stole the book from its resting place and stored it in her pouch.

"Ugh! Come on, Seeker. I just told you where that book's been!" Varric groaned, but as always, Cassandra never really cared about what he had to say.

"And just what are these?" Vivienne asked curiously. She was staring at two objects that had been placed in weapon cases, yet seemed so utterly harmless. One was shaped like a sword handle with no blade, and the other was a long shaft, and both of them were topped with large, flawlessly cut crystal. The crystal in the sword hand had the image of a hare being snatched by a hawk, and the staff had the image of an anvil with a plume of flame over in its crystal.

Vivienne took the catalogue paper from the items and read aloud what they Qunari had discovered about them.

"These relics were found in a temple within the eluvians, and are therefore elven in origin. According to the statues and mural that were discovered in those ruins, they are supposedly, for they were displayed as being wielded by ancient elven soldiers. Weapons constructed not of magic, but of pure energy and light. However, we have found no way of activating these weapons, nor have we been able to reverse-engineer their designs, as if we're lacking a key component that leaves these weapons inert. Regardless, these relics shall be kept for further study. Perhaps they will yet prove useful in outfitting the Antaam with new weaponry."

"These are suppose to be weapons?" Ranier asked curiously, and examined the sword handle in his hand. "Not much of a weapon if it doesn't have the part that get the job done."

"Give them to me." Rajmael requested.

Rajmael held both the sword handle and weaponless staff in his hands. He could feel some sort energy inside the crystals, but it was faint, dormant. Like whatever power was in these weapons was in a deep sleep after centuries of inactivity. The Viddasala couldn't activate these weapons because she lacked the power source necessary to awaken them. Rajmael, on the other hand, did.

The Inquisitor touched his marked hand to the crystals on both relics, and the magic of the Anchor sparked out to them. The crystals began to shine brightly, the power of the Anchor had brought them to life. The now awakened weapons came to life in Rajmael's hand, as if they were responding to his will. The handle became a sword, and the staff was in truth a great-axe. They both had blades of pure energy and light, just like the Viddasala's note said. The color of their light kept shifting with every color of the prism, and made a pleasant humming sound when they moved.

"Whoa! Now that's cool!" Iron Bull exclaimed.

"A weapons made of light? That would make some excellent material for an epic saga story." Varric commented. "Now if only there was a catchy name. Like an energy-sword? Ooh! I know, a light-saber! Nah, not poetic enough, and there's only one sword. How about Chromatic Sword, and Prismatic Axe?"

"It's so pretty and shiny!" Cole said admiringly.

"How incredible. The colors of energy from these weapons isn't light at all, but different spectrums of elemental magic." Dorian observed keenly. "Getting hit by weapons like these would be like being struck by a lightning bolt, shoved in a pyre, then tossed into a blizzard."

"Cohesive magical constructs made of several elemental types? How is this possible?" Vivienne asked completely perplexed. Despite her own thorough education in magic, she was drawing a blank on how the ancient elves could have possibly created such things.

"Maybe you can all stop to admire the Viddasa's collection of dangerous and questionable objects later? Aren't we in a bit of hurry?!" Tallis urged agitatedly.

Rajmael set the Chromatic Axe down, as he had no use for such a weapon, nor could he carry it with him. The Prismatic Sword, however, he strapped to his belt, just in the small of his back under his coat. A rare, one of a kind weapon like this, created by his ancestors to boot, should not be discarded. Perhaps it may come in handy later.

Rajmael looked to the back of the Viddasala's office and noticed that she had a large curtain draped over the back wall. It couldn't have been a window, why hide it? Whatever it was, it took up the entire wall. There was a note attached to the curtain, short and simple, yet so profound Rajmael felt his heart race at seeing the words.

The note read: 'Excavated mural from the Valley of the Dread Wolf. Believed to be a self-portrait of Fen'heral'.

"No... It can't be!" Rajmael gasped as he ripped the curtain down and revealed the mural hiding behind it. What he saw painted on that ancient slab of stone was enough to steal his breath away and make his knees weak with shock. The mural, painted in the style of elven Francesca, depicted the nightmarish image of the Dread Wolf, a great beast with multiple eyes, his form black as night. And Standing before this creature was the true form of the Rebel God of Destruction & Nightmares: A gentle, wise-looking elf with a bare face and bald head, wearing a wolf pelt around his shoulders, a belt across his chest, and wolf's jawbone hanging from his neck. The image also had an air of pure serenity around him as he lifted his arms towards the Fade, standing his ground. There was only one elf in all of Thedas that resembled this image Rajmael beheld...

~XoXoXo~

A loud explosion was heard outside and the very ground of the Darvaraad shook, the vibration was so powerful it knocked many of the items on the Viddasala's walls off their shelves, including the dragon skull. Tallis rushed over to the window and saw that Aedan's lyrium bombs in the red lyrium depot had finally gone off. Not only did they completely destroy the tower, and all its contents, but the intensity of both the lyrium bombs and the red lyrium going off all at once shattered that entire section of the fortress into a smoldering pile of rubble.

While it was good thing that they destroyed the Viddasala's supply of red lyrium, and stopped whatever plans she might have for it, they now alerted the entire fortress of their presence. Including all the soldiers on the warships. Tallis could see every Qunari soldier, all dressed for war, quickly unload their dreadnoughts and charged back to the Darvaraad in full force. Their heavy footsteps was enough to make the ground shake again.

"Uh, guys? We have an entire invasion force of Qunari storming the building, and I think they're really pissed off that you broke their fortress." Tallis informed the others.

"Shit, yeah! More people to fight!" Iron Bull growled excitedly.

"I find your excitement for impending doom rather troublesome, yet somehow endearing, Amatus." Dorian commented to his paramour.

"You should take this more seriously." Ranier said humorlessly. "If we have to fight off a horde of pissed off Qunari coming at from behind, we won't be able to move forward to the Viddasala."

"Some of us will have to stay behind to hold them off." Hawke stated grimly.

"Such a thing would be a suicide mission." Vivienne pointed out.

"Our options are rather limited at this point, Enchanter." Hawke rebutted.

While everyone was trying to figure out what to do, Sera was looking at some of the items that had fallen off the shelves because of the explosion. One of the items that fell was a large chest that was so heavy it actually broke the floor tiles it landed on. The chest wasn't just sealed with a very complicated lock, it wrapped in heavy chains. Whatever was in here, the Viddasala wanted to make absolutely sure no one could open it. That little fact only made Sera want to see what was inside even more.

"Oooh! Now what shiny bits does the Viddy have locked in here?" Sera giggled curiously and pulled out one of her best lockpicks.

"Don't touch that!" Tallis and Cole shouted at the same time. Cole grabbed Sea's hand and pulled her away from the chest.

"Hey, geez! What're you two on about?" Sera asked indignantly.

"Do you just stick your hand in every cookie jar and not think their might be rat poison in there?" Tallis responded sarcastically. "The Viddasala may be crazy, but even she had enough common sense left to lock whatever's in that chest away because of how dangerous it is. Can't you feel it?"

"It slumbers. Waiting, searching, filled with hunger. It wants to kill, maim, slaughter. It wants to be returned to the one that first held it." Cole empathized, his voice shaky with caution, and stepping further away from the chest.

There was truth to what Cole and Tallis were saying. With that chest laying right in the middle of the room, they could all feel a sense of foreboding fill the air. Like they were standing before something dangerous and their natural survival instincts were telling them to get away. It was like standing in the presence of a dangerous animal, like a giant or a dragon.

"Ugh. You're right. Right creepy, that. Best leave it alone." Sera agreed, rather creeped out and disappointed.

"Is there anything in this woeful collection that isn't dangerous?" Vivienne asked rhetorically.

"Maybe it's a good thing the Viddasala found this, so no one else has to stumble on it." Varric said.

"Look here, there's a note on it." Hawke pointed out. He pulled the note off the chest and was thankful to find that it had been written in the Common Tongue as well as Qunlat, which he couldn't read a word of. "We managed to relieve the item from a group of bandits who stole it from its last handlers. Where they acquired it is uncertain, only that it had been out of the possession of the Antivan Crows for some time..."

"The Crows had this thing? Why have I never heard of it?" Zevran asked curiously, interrupting Hawke's reading. "It must be something very powerful or important if someone dared to wrest it from the House of Crows."

"...The bandits were hold up in an old fortress and were plaguing merchant caravans along the Nevarran/Tevinter border. Despite the risks they took and lives they lost to get the weapon, none of them could actually wield it, so they kept it as trophy or a good luck charm. The suspicious baas actually thought merely possessing the weapon would bring them victory in battle. A belief that was proven false when the Ben-Hessrath infiltrated their ruined fortress and relieved them of the item. If it is meant to be a weapon, I do not see how that is possible. It's impossibly too heavy to wield, it took four of my strongest subordinates just to carry it. However, it is dangerous. Everyone who's ever taken it has died, and just being around it makes everyone feel like it's cursed. It gives off some kind of aura, like being in the presence of a hungry beast, like it wants to kill. Truly an evil object. It's a fortunate thing we found this and have now locked it away. I dread to think what someone who could actually wield this horrible thing could do with it, should it ever fall in the wrong hands."

"Maker's balls. Just what the hell is this thing if even the Viddasala's scared of it?" Ranier wondered, starting to get a little scared himself.

"And she should be!" Aedan snarled with that sinister, toothy grin of his. He had that same look of twisted excitement and hunger that he had when he killed Howe. The Hero smashed his fist into the chest, completely ignoring any other method of opening it. He wanted what was in that chest, and he wanted it now. "It's mine, it has always been mine!"

"Baas! Vinek kat'aas!" A voice shouted in the hallway. A small squad of Qunari scouts made it a head of the horde charging in from the dreadnoughts.

Aedan tossed a smoke grenade at the Qunari and charged right at them. He didn't even bother to take his hand out of the chest, he just took it with him. There were sound of a fight from within the cloud of smoke, but they were short-lived. Soon, the sounds of combat were replaced by the sounds of pained screaming, flesh being torn, blood spilling, and the horrific sound of someone gurgling their last breath as blood filled their lungs. An all too common occurrence when Aedan Cousland stepped into battle.

The smoke cleared and everyone saw Aedan Cousland standing amidst his latest victims, whose bodies had been cleaved and shredded open, their innards strewn all over the floor, and their blood painting their killer's body. Aedan had a look of sickening look of ecstasy on his face, and clenched in his fist wasn't the replacement axe he had picked up earlier. It was the weapon that was so vile and unwieldy that the Viddasala dare not touch it and locked it away.

It was a greatsword with a skull-shaped pommel, it's crossguard was in the image of a dragon's head, with a single-edged serrated blade in the form of sharp teeth. The blade was coated in blood and burning with a sinister red aura that made the runes on the blade glow like hot coals. It appeared as if the blade itself was absorbing, consuming the blood that was drenching it, like it was feeding off the death it sewed. Almost everyone recognized the sword he held so passionately in his hand, like it was his true love.

"At last, you are back where you have always belonged." Aedan laughed vilely, reveling in the carnage and bloodshed he committed. He held the sword so passionately, like it was his true love and was finally reunited with it after so many years apart. "By the hands of my enemies were you taken, and by the hands of my enemies do you return. And now, we shall perform the purpose for which we were both created for: to destroy our enemies. My Vigilance!"

Vigilance, the sword forged from the bones of an ancient High Dragon by Master Wade, and believed to be possessed by that dragon's spirit. This sword was forged to be wielded only by Aedan Cousland's hand, and after over a decade of being lost, changing hands more times than anyone knew, it finally returned to its rightful owner. In trying to destroy Southern Thedas, and threatening his beloved homeland, the Viddasala had reunited Fereldan's most vicious killer with his most brutal weapon. The sword amplified the powers of a Reaver, absorbing the entropic energies of death, healing its wielder, and allowing him to take more damage and become even more powerful. It was a weapon that completed the Hero of Ferelden.

Aedan clenched the dragonbone sword tightly in his fists, brought the serrated edge of the sword to his mouth, and licked the blood of his slain enemies of it, and cut his own tongue right in down the middle, turning it into a serpentine fork. Sera, Varric and Dorian puked again, while Aedan savored the taste of mixed blood in his mouth, as if cutting his own tongue in half didn't harm him at all.

Sensing the power of its Vigilance came to life, its aura burning like a witch's pyre, and began absorbing all the entropic energies of the dead bodies surrounding him. The blade drank deeply, and the red aura surrounding it intensified, as did Aedan's Reaver powers. His eyes became bestial gleams that burned red, his teeth grew sharper while he began frothing at the mouth like a mad beast, and the demonic aura surrounding him enveloped his hands, making them like claws. Aedan ripped his shirt off, showing off all the muscles and tattoos he had, ready to bathe himself in the blood of his enemies.

The Hero of Ferelden looked over to the Inquisitor, that insane grin still spread across his face. "Inquisitor! Go now. Save your daughter, and the rest of Thedas. I'll hold off the Qunari reinforcements."

Laughing like a maniac, Aedan jumped out of the window and dropped down to the ground level right on top of the Qunari forces that were charging their way up to the intruders. He hit the ground with such force, he created a small crater where he landed, and crushed several Qunari who were unfortunate enough to be under him to death. Wasting no words, Aedan celebrated his reunion with Vigilance by beginning to singlehandedly murder all the Qunari surrounding him. All his tattoos were soon being painted red as he spilt their blood and shredded their bodies, laughing all the while.

"Do as he says." Zevran urged. "I'll stay behind and help Aedan keep these brutes at bay."

"Even you two can't hope to stop all those Qunari by yourselves!" Rajmael argued as ludicrous.

"My dear Inquisitor, this is nothing compared to holding the gates at Denerim during the Blight, we'll be fine." Zevran promised. "Now, go. Show these motherless bastards how powerful we elves can be."

With that last statement, Zevran jumped out of the window and shimmied down to where Aedan was fighting the Qunari. He threw several daggers into a charging group of Qunari, sticking them all in their faces, and went back-to-back with his old friend. It had been many years since the two of them had fought together like this. The Anitvan Crow and Fereldan General were going to spill enough blood to paint a palace red, and they were going to have fun doing it.

~XoXoXo~

With Aedan and Zevran now outside on the ground level, holding off the Qunari's reinforcements by mercilessly butchering them, Rajmael and the others wasted no more time and raced further into the Darvaraad. Rajmael had some reservations about leaving only those two behind to cover them, but quickly realized that if those two could stop a Blight and end a civil war in one year, then facing a horde of rampaging Qunari would be nothing they couldn't handle. Right now, Rajmael had to focus on getting Eva back, stopping the Viddasala, and getting to the truth about this agent of Fen'heral.

As they ran further into the fortress, they discovered more and more barrels of Qunari blackpowder laying around, and more soldier came out to stop them. They must have been making so much of it, they were running out of room, and needed these guards to protect it. Hawke, Iron Bull, and Ranier led the charge and cut down every guard their stood in their path. They had come too far to be stopped now.

"Hey, Iron Bull, what room are we heading to?" Hawke asked as he knocked off the last Qunari guard's head, and pointed to a sign on the wall written in Qunlat.

Iron Bull pulled his axe out of another Qunari's skull squinted his only eye at the sign. "Oh, shit. This way leads to the gaatlok refinement center. Where they're making all this fucking black powder!"

"We do exactly what we did with all that red lyrium, maybe we can crush the Viddasala's plan before it even begin." Ranier proposed.

"Let's do it." Rajmael said with grim finality. "I want nothing left of this place but smoldering ruin and dead bodies by the time we're done here."

Hawke kicked down the door and revealed the inner chamber where the Qunari were creating all their blackpowder, and all of them were surprised beyond belief at what they saw. It wasn't all the blackpowder, even though there was enough stored here to reduce an entire city to rubble. No, it was what they saw in the chamber adjacent to this one. A fully grown and extremely angry High Dragon was being held right here in the heart of this fortress. It was a rare breed that none of them had encountered before. A green High Dragon that spat poisonous acid rather than fire, ice or lightning.

"Dragon's Breath...is an actual dragon?" Rajmael realized, still unable to believe his eyes.

"How did they even manage to capture such a beast?" Cassandra questioned.

"That's a poison-type dragon, extremely rare. They must be distilling all this blackpowder from the chemicals in her breath." Hawke deduced.

"And here I thought the Imperium had a thing for dragons. The Qunari have actually weaponized them." Dorian commented.

"Can't anything ever be simple anymore?" Varric groaned.

"Okay, that's pretty badass, but we're still gonna fuck their shit up." Iron Bull promised, genuinely impressed with what they were seeing.

"They took her here, bound her, hurt her. She doesn't want be here." Cole said sympathetically, feeling the High Dragon's pain.

One of the Qunari guards suddenly noticed the armed group of foreigners that had penetrated the inner sanctum of their own fortress and alarmed his fellow compatriots. "Teth a! Baas!"

The Viddasala herself rushed into the room on a balcony overlooking the refinement center. Her stoic face was gripped with surprise. Not only was the Inquisitor still alive, but he had invaded the very heart of her crucial operation. She had to put an end to him now. The fate of the world depended on it.

"Inquisition! Nehraa ataashi-asaara meravis adim kata!" The Viddasala ordered in Qunlat. Several death squads of Qunari soldiers emerged from behind the doors leading further into the fortress. Battle-hardened warriors who bred for war by the Tammasran priestesses, and several sarebaas mages. They were ready to carry out the Viddasala's commands, to fulfill the demands of the Qun.

The Viddasala could not leave anything to chance, and desperately looked to the one who used to be on of her own amongst the Inquisition. "Hissrad! Now, please. Vinek kathas!"

"Fuck you...ma'am." Iron Bull refused resolutely, albeit very politely.

"Tallis why are you doing this? How can you turn your back on the Qun!?" The Viddasala demanded angrily, hurt that one of her own would betray her like this.

"How can you sacrifice so many lives, ours and theirs, and act like it's a good thing?" Tallis countered just as angry. "This isn't the Qun, it's lunacy!"

"You're no holy crusader, you're just another religious fanatic with an excuse! No different than Meredith." Hawke condemned spitefully.

"Give me back my daughter, and I'll consider sending you back to the Ariqun alive. Not in one piece, but alive. Or I'm going to destroy everything you are!" Rajmael swore viciously.

The Viddasala maintained her Qunari reserve, and was either too devoted or too arrogant to be threatened. "You have come far, Inquisitor. I am impressed. But you will go no farther. Take them!"

The Qunari assumed battle formations and approached the Inquisitor and his companions. Everything they had been taught and trained for in their lives was for this moment. The Qun demanded the Inquisition's destruction. They would not let him interfere anymore than he already had.

"Cassandra, my love, would you please take everyone out of the room and count to ten for me, please?." Rajmael requested calmly.

Cassandra had no idea what was going through her lover's mind, but didn't question him. She and the rest of her companions fell back into the hall they came from, leaving Rajmael alone to deal with the enemy. The Qunari came closer and closer, their weapons drawn, and ready to do what the Qun demanded to be done to mages that weren't leashed. The Viddasala could scarcely believe her eyes. Was the Inquisitor truly foolish enough to try and face down some of her best men by himself, or was he finally surrendering himself to the will of the Qun?

Despite the encroaching doom and the dangerous position he left himself in, Rajmael remained calm, relaxed even. He didn't even bother drawing his sword. Instead, he reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out the one thing no one expected him to have: his sylvanwood pipe.

"You assholes made three mistakes." Rajmael stated blithely as he lit his pipe and slowly dragged from it. "One: you took my daughter, something I can never forgive. Two: you actually thought you could fuck with the Inquisition and there would be no consequences. Three, and this is really the most important part: you're locked in a room full of a combustible, highly flammable chemicals...with a smoker."

All the Qunari soldiers stopped dead in their tracks, and the Viddasala quickly cleared the room, when they realized their fatal error. How could they have overlooked something so obvious?

"Yeah, suddenly Dragon's Breath doesn't seem like smart idea, does it?" Rajmael mocked, and flicked the burning contents of his pipe into one of the nearby gaatlok barrels.

Several of the Qunari soldiers tried to charge the Inquisitor, but it was too late. They were all consumed in a ball of fire, and became victims of their own black powder, and Rajmael just stood there and smiled, completely protected from the flames thanks to the magical barrier he surrounded himself with.

~XoXoXo~

Cassandra didn't even get to ten when a large explosion erupted from the other side of the door, and smoke and screams began pouring out from the other side. She almost ripped the door off its hinges tearing it open, and found that the entire black powder refinement center was now a smoldering ruin with dead Qunari bodies strewn all over, their corpses singed to blackened crisps. Almost like over-cooked strips of bacon.

Rajmael stood over the body of one of Qunari, whose entire outer layer of flesh, and half his face had been burned off, yet was somehow still alive. So the Inquisitor did the humane thing, and cut his head off, ending the Qunari's suffering.

Tallis had been briefed on the Inquisitor, all the Viddasala's agents had been. That he was dangerous and not to be underestimated, but the intel she gave her agents barely scratched the surface. The Inquisitor somehow survived being in a room filled with several Qunari death squads, which he then blew up with their own black powder, and didn't have a scratch on him. The Inquisitor was just standing there amongst her fallen former comrades, smoking his pipe like this was nothing. Just what kind of mage was he?

"Damn, Boss! I'm going to have to start stepping up my game before you break my kill record." Iron Bull laughed.

Dorian looked up at his Qunari paramour, slightly concerned with how well he was taking the deaths of his former comrades. "Are you alright, Amatus? These were your former brothers-in-arms."

"Don't worry, Kadan. I'm not Qunari anymore, and these assholes deserved it." Iron Bull assured, winking at his Tevinter lover with his only eye. "When we're done here, the drinks are on me."

"And what about you, Tallis? Are you comfortable helping us kill your own brethren? Watching them die, get burnt to a crisp like deep fried chicken?" Hawke questioned.

"Huh, kind of low blow, don't you think, Hawke?" Varric asked uncomfortably.

Tallis sighed sadly, and couldn't deny that she felt guilty about seeing her fellow Qunari slain like this, but she knew she wasn't at fault here. "These men died doing their duty, and they didn't falter, even if they were led astray. The Viddasala is the one who used them for her own fanaticism. And I'm willing to shoulder the guilt of killing my own if it means none of them have to be used like this."

Rajmael exhaled a cloud of smoke and doused his pipe before returning it to his coat. "We've wasted enough on these idiots. Now let's go kick the Viddasala's ass between her horns."

~XoXoXo~

All of them charged full force into the large chamber where the Qunari were housing the dragon. Given the Qunari's inborn, cultural respect for dragons, Rajmael was shocked to see that this beast was already terribly injured before they had even gotten here. Her proud horns were chipped and broken, parts of her mighty wings had been shredded, and the once luminescent, vibrant green scales on her flanks had been flayed off and stabbed repeatedly by what looked like spears. The only reason why she didn't leave this house of pain was because of the thick chains and shackles that were digging painfully into her limbs. The dragon was being held in a circle surrounded by mechanical torches, that were burning her open wounds, and forced her to move in whatever direction her tormentors wanted. She had been mistreated and tortured so horribly, her wounds even beginning to fester.

This wasn't a refinement center, it was a torture chamber. Rajmael had killed many dragons during his time as Inquisitor, but to torture such a magnificent, awe-inspiring beast was beyond reprehensible.

Tallis, it seemed, was just as shocked. "This...this is how the Viddasala has been supplying her own gaatlok? How horrible! The poor creature."

"Capturing a magnificent beast like that and torturing it just to turn into her own supply of ingredients, that's should be considered a sin against nature." Ranier said with disgust.

"Capturing and torturing animals is proof positive of psychopathy. To do such a thing on this scale, the Viddasala must be mad beyond all reason." Vivienne stated factually.

"Qunari cultural venerates the power of dragons." Hawke said insightfully, but his voice was heavy with disappointment. "If the Viddasala could do this to a creature her own people respect more than any other, what other atrocities is she capable of?"

Dorian was just as abhorred by this act of cruelty. "If any of my countrymen, or even my ancestors saw this, they'd consider it blasphemy of the highest degree."

"She's hurt, scared, she wants to leave, to escape the pain of being stabbed, burned and bound. We have to help her." Cole said sorrowfully.

"Cole's right." Cassandra said, full of sympathy for the dragon. "Her captors have already mutilated her, it would cruel to kill her like this. We should find a way to free her."

When a member of the Pentaghast Family, who once hunted dragons to the brink of extinction, was filled with enough compassion for a dragon that had been captured and tortured, everyone knew that it must be the right thing to do.

"Yeah, I gotta admit, even I can't bring myself to kill it. And killing dragons is one of the things that turns me on the most, damn it!" Iron Bull said extremely agitated. "If you're gonna kill a dragon, grow a pair and go kill it. But don't torture it into some wounded animal you end up feeling sorry for."

"Argh! Stupid fuckin' Qunari, takin' the fun out of dragon-killin'. Do her like this, and we're the arseholes! Gah!" Sera cursed. "How do we help her?"

Rajmael looked around the holding chamber, searching for a way to free the tormented dragon. She may try to kill them while in the attempt to free her, but no creature deserves to be tortured like this. On to floor overlooking the dragon, Rajmael saw four mechanisms that controlled the mechanical torches that were harming the dragon and keeping them from getting to her. They needed to be turned off if the dragon was to be freed. Rajmael knew what he needed to do.

"Cole, Varric, I want you two to deactivate the controls to those torches so that we can free her from her shackles. Vivienne, Sera, you will give them cover fire before they're overwhelmed by any reinforcements. They rest of us, will try to hold the Qunari back, and try to keep the dragon from killing us, without killing her." Rajmael instructed.

"I like that idea, Inquisitor. Keeps me further away from the dragon, in case she's not that grateful to us and decides to eat us." Varric commented sarcastically. He held Bianca firmly in his hands and set off to his task. "Come on, Kid. Let's set the big, pissed off dragon free. No way that could go wrong."

"Shouldn't I help them, too?" Tallis questioned.

"Oh, no. You don't get to have the easy job, Tallis." Rajmael answered satirically. "You helped kidnap my daughter, now you can help me murder a lot of your people."

At that very moment, the Viddasala burst into the housing chamber with a horde of her soldiers that poured into the room like a flood. The Inquisitor had already done irreparable damage, they could not let him do anymore. For the sake of what they believe, for the Qun, they would kill the Inquisitor here and end the threat he posed.

"Inquisitor! We will not let you cut down the Ataashi!" The Viddasala declared.

"There's only one horned bitch I'm interested in cutting down right now, and she ain't nearly as cute as this dragon is." Rajmael balked insolently. "I swear, your head's going to decorate my wall after I'm done with you!"

"Ataash Qunari! Vinek Kathas!" The Viddasala screamed at her men.

With savage war cries on their lips and deadly weapons in their hands, the Qunari charged down the Inquisition. The battle commenced with vicious intensity, and the Inquisitor and companions found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. With an extremely angry and scared High Dragon that was desperately trying to free itself and kill anyone who got too close to it at their back, and the Viddasala's forces charging them from the front, they had virtually no way of getting a defensible position. It was almost impossible to free the Ataashi and fight the Qunari at once. Perhaps it would have been easier to kill it, but Rajmael had already committed to his choice.

Hawke, Iron Bull, Ranier and Cassandra charged the Qunari with all their might. As some of the best warriors in Thedas, they cut down everyone who dared get too close to them, but hours of fighting powerful enemies nonstop were beginning to take their toll, and Hawke's armor was still damaged from his fight with the Inquisitor and the Hero. Tallis tried to help throwing a stream of daggers at her former brethren, and keep them off her new comrades' flanks, but there was just too many of them.

While the warriors and Tallis were occupying the Viddasala's footsoldiers, Sera, Vivienne, Cole and Varric were trying to free the dragon, but they too were being blocked by the Qunari. Sera and Vivienne were so busy trying to keep the Qunari agents off themselves that Varric and Cole were forced to fall back and try to fight their own battles. While this was all happening, Dorian and Rajmael were trying to distract the dragon and keep it from killing all of them by discharging low-powered spells at it to keep it at bay, but soon they were only making it even madder.

The Viddasala smiled to herself victoriously. Her soldiers were quickly overwhelming the Inquisitor's underlings, and the Inquisitor's attempts to wrest the Ataashi from them were proving vain. After all the toil, hardship and sacrifice she committed to this task, she would finally fulfill her purpose. With the Inquisitor's death, the South would be saved. Thedas would know peace under the Qun. She was going to win.

Out of nowhere, the sound of what must've been a volcano erupting burst into the chamber when of the walls exploded, sending large fragments of flaming debris flying that killed the Qunari who were too close to it. Out of the smoke and smoldering wreckage, emerged a figure that all too often inspired fear in his enemies, but now brought relief to friends. It was Aedan standing there, his bare chest and tattoos all covered in blood, and he was clenching a Qunari's severed head by the horn in his teeth. But more frightening than that, he was actually carrying a cannon on his shoulder, like it weighed nothing it all.

"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Aedan laughed insanely as he spat the severed head out of his mouth and aimed the cannon right at the Viddasala's soldier. The blast and the recoil didn't even make him budge, while the cannonball he fired at the crowd of Qunari turned them into chunks of wet mass that flew all over the place, killing almost half the vanguard. Three soldier tried to attack the Hero while he was encumbered with one of their own cannons. It didn't end well.

"Here, hold this!" Aedan mocked, and tossed the heavy piece of ordinance at his attackers, which landed right on top of them and crushed them to death.

After making sure it was safe for to come out, Zevran emerged from behind his blood-soaked friend, his daggers drawn. But when he saw the High Dragon that was chained in here, he instantly regretted his decision.

"Madre! What in Andraste's name is a dragon doing in her!?" The Antivan assassin gasped.

"General, Zevran! Distract the damned thing while the rest of us hold the Qunari off! We're going to free the dragon!" Garret called over to them and simultaneously decapitated three Qunari with his sword.

"I'm sorry, but are you completely insane!?" Zevran asked completely dumbstruck by the mere thought of such a thing.

"Sounds good to me." Aedan shrugged. He ran up to a nearby Qunari, punched him square in the face, making him so dazed, he didn't put up much of a fight when Aedan grabbed him by the neck. The dazed Qunari, however, did start screaming Aedan, with his freakish strength, threw him right at the dragon he and his compatriots had captured and tortured. The green High Dragon caught the flying oxman in her colossal jaws and chomped down on his body with her sword-like teeth.

That should keep the dragon occupied for a moment. Aedan knew from personal experience that High Dragons possessed a form of sentience, and after being kept as prisoner and tortured, that dragon was going to take her time savoring the Qunari who helped cause her so much pain. That act of grisly generosity would buy them a couple of minutes. That's when Aedan got the ghastly wonderful idea to just keep throwing Qunari at this dragon, and she'll be too busy venting her frustration to want to kill them. All he had to do was keep grabbing these soldiers, and tossing them at their precious Ataashi.

Zevran watched Aedan's back and kept any attacking Qunari from outflanking them, while his friend continued to fleeing living and dead enemies at the Ataashi.

"There's the Champion! Avenge the Arishok!" A ranking Sten ordered his underlings. Many of the soldiers who fought in the Antaam served either underneath or alongside the previous Arishok, and many were discouraged to learn how their finest, most high-ranking military commander had been killed in combat by a single baas, who dared to interfere with what the Qun demanded. Now was their chance to finally avenge their respected war-leader.

Hawke stood his ground against the onslaught of Qunari who charged him down. Even after all this time, the soldiers of the Qun hadn't changed their tactics. They still charged on and hit hard, like some unrelenting force akin to a tidal wave that broke and washed away everything in its path. Well, Hawke wasn't in the mood to change his tactics, either. If they were the tidal wave, Hawke would be the mountain they crashed on broke upon.

The Champion held the Celebrant tightly in his grip, charging the advanced, unique fire rune that Sandal had ingeniously crafted for him years ago, and raised it over his head. The Celebrant burned like a pyre in the Champion's fists, it burned so hot, the flames turned blue, and Hawke brought his flaming sword down on his attackers with all his might. The burning blade cut its first victim right between his horns and sliced through the rest of his body, cutting him directly in half. The Celebrant hit the ground with so much force, it broke the ground beneath the Qunaris' feet, knocking them off balance, and sent a wave of blue fire at all the soldiers who dared attack the Champion.

The blue flames from the Celebrant consumed a large swath of the enemy soldiers, lighting up them up like prayer candles. They screamed in horrified agony as they burned alive, their armor did absolutely nothing to protect them from the fire, and began melting on to their bodies. The flames burned with such intensity, that the flesh was charred from their bones. Many were burned so badly, their bodies crumbled to ash when they hit the ground.

Hawke may have been the most normal of the three heroes present, but he was still dangerous. A fact that these Qunari were foolish enough to overlook, especially when he carved his reputation from killing Qunari.

Tallis was surrounded by a group of her former brothers in the Ben-Hessrath, men she had known and worked alongside with for years, some of whom she even considered friends. While she truly felt guilt for having to be in a situation where she had to fight them, she knew for a fact that none of them would feel anything about killing her.

"Traitor! You've turned your back on the Ben-Hessrath!" One of the agents denounced angrily.

"You were always weak, Tallis. It was a mistake to ever let you return to the Ben-Hessrath." Another said with disgust.

"To feel compassion isn't weakness. If anything, that's what I know the Qun to be about the most." Tallis affirmed strongly. "The Qun is suppose to be about acceptance, not destruction. And you all are being led astray by the Viddasala's fears. I will not let you diminish the Qun by making it the center of a world wide holocaust!"

Two of the Ben-Hessrath agents attacked Tallis at the same time from both sides. The elven Qunari slipped past their blades and sliced their wrists open with her own daggers so quickly they didn't see her weapons move, and both disarmed and left them bleeding to death at the same time. In the blink of an eye, several knives flew from Tallis' hands and penetrated deeply into the weak points in her opponents' armor, cutting their arteries and piercing their throats.

More of her former comrades came at Tallis, but trying to strike the elven agent was harder than trying was like trying to hit a leaf flying in the wind. Tallis slid past them, around them, and through them. For every one swing they took at her, Tallis dodged and stabbed them thrice. She wasn't just standing her ground, Tallis was systematically decimating this entire squad, despite the odd against her. She was outnumbered, wearing only light leather armor against their battle-ready gear, and armed only with a pair of daggers against their swords, axes and hammers, yet somehow she was killing them all.

Most of these Qunari had forgotten that, despite Tallis' many infraction in the past, there was a reason why their superiors always returned her and kept her in the Ben-Hessrath: Tallis was one of the most highly skilled agents they ever trained in this generation. One of the only other assets that was as valued as her was the Hissrad now known as the Tal-Vashoth Iron Bull. She once killed an entire squad of Antivan Crows by herself. Tallis was fast, precise, deadly, the best of the best. And now, she was fighting against them. Perhaps her own conviction to the Qun was stronger than theirs.

"Tallis! It's not too late for you to do the right thing!" The Viddasala called out to the elven Qunari over the sounds of battle, carnage, and the enraged dragon. "Following the Qun can be difficult, I understand. But I am asking you to have the conviction and strength needed to fulfill the Qun. All will be forgiven once the Qun is spread throughout Thedas."

Tallis glared at her former superior, and answered her by throwing a dagger at the Viddasala's face. The Viddasala deftly caught the flying, sharp projectile in her hand and cast it to the ground. Enraged, she hissed viciously at Tallis' betrayal, and recused herself from the battle. She had to make sure their plans were carried out. The Viddasala couldn't let the Inquisition stop her now, not when she was so close.

"Hurry up! I can't keep feeding this thing forever!" Aedan shouted while he tossed yet another unfortunate Qunari soldier at the Ataashi to be devoured.

"Come on, Kid! Let's hurry. Buttercup, Iron Lady, watch our back!" Varric urged while he and Cole ran up to the panels controlling the torches that trapped the poisonous High Dragon.

There were two panels on different sides of a walkway that controlled the rings of torches, this way no one person could free the dragon on their own. Varric and Bianca fired bolt after bolt into every Qunari that was in their path to that damned control panel, while Cole slipped past and fatally cut his way through the soldiers blocking his path. They had to release this dragon quickly if they were going to survive.

Vivienne and Sera unleashed their own onslaught on the Qunari that chased after the two rogues. Vivienne conjured a special spell she once reserved for shamming political rivals on the dance floor. She froze the ground under the Qunari who were chasing after Cole, and made them fall to the floor with a resounding crash in that heavy armor of theirs. The weight and force of their fall was enough to break their backs and necks. Sera decided to use that special package her girlfriend, the dwarven Arcanist, Dagna, had given her. A special gift, for a special occasion.

"Here's a present from my Widdles, you arse-holes!" Sera snickered as she threw the item in question right at them.

The package Sera threw at the Qunari chasing Varric was some kind of glass container that made a loud, very angry, buzzing sound as it flew through the air. The glass jar smashed against the armor of one of the soldiers, and unleashed a swarm of Rivaini Red Hornets. Twice as big and three times more venomous than the common hornet that could cause an elephant immeasurable pain with just one sting. It took Dagna a year and half to gather this many and put them all in this jar. Now, these Qunari extremists get to enjoy all of Dagna's many hours of tedious effort and careful ingenuity as these hornets swarmed on them, stung them to death, and left them in screaming agony as their bodies swelled with burning puss and poisoned their blood. Courtesy of Sera's generosity. She always loved sharing Dagna's gifts with others.

Cole and Varric made it to their respective consoles. Aside from being written entirely in Qunlat, the controls seemed easy enough to operate. There was a set of wheels and dials meant to move the torches around so the Qunari could prod the dragon in whatever direction they liked. They also found the big, red levers that had big, red words around that was so obviously a warning sign. Cole and Varric pulled on those big, red levers down so hard they both broke them right off the control panels, and the torches were shut right off.

"Inquisitor! The fire's out! Now would be a good time to get the shackles off the dragon and open the gate. And pray she's grateful enough to not eat us!" Varric shouted over to Rajmael before opening fire on the Qunari with Bianca.

"She knows we're trying to help. She wants us to let her go, so she can fly." Cole stated, before slitting an enemy soldier's throat.

"Enough of this bullshit!" Rajmael shouted with utter rage and backed up by the agony that was tormenting him. He could feel the power of the Anchor growing stronger, like great waves of power that were pounding against his very being, demanding to be released. It was time Rajmael got something out of the Anchor for all the pain it was causing him.

Rajmael leaped into the air and landed right in the middle of all the Qunari soldiers that were attacking them. He punched his marked fist onto the ground and released as much of the Anchor's destructive energy as he could. A powerful discharge of green energy exploded from the Inquisitor's hand with a blast so powerful it tore the Qunari nearest to him apart, and sent the rest of them flying. With a huge chunk of their forces dead and disabled, Rajmael and the others could focus on releasing the dragon.

"Bull, Aedan! Get those shackles of the dragon. Cassandra, Hawke, raise the gate." Rajmael ordered, gripping his left hand. Using the Anchor's power like that, while effective, was extremely painful.

"You got it, Boss!" Iron Bull confirmed, and ran towards the Ataashi, laughing his ass off the whole time.

"I'm onit." Aedan acknowledged. He grabbed one of the dying Qunari that was caught in the explosion Rajmael made, and threw him at the dragon, for good measure. The Ataashi grabbed the Qunari in her jaws and proceeded to rip crunch on him.

With the dragon distracted by its meal, and Iron Bull and Aedan working on the shackles that bound it, Cassandra and Hawke moved to the closed gate to raise it. There were two levers on either side of it, and they needed to pull them at the same time to raise the gate.

"Champion, pull! Now!" Cassandra beckoned, pulling down her lever with all her might.

"Right!" Hawke pulled the lever on his side down so hard, he snapped it right off.

With their combined strength, Aedan and Iron Bull snapped the shackles that were digging into the Ataashi's limbs. With the shackles removed, no torches to prod her, and no gate blocking her path, the Ataashi roared triumphantly. She spread her powerful wing, beating them to create a powerful gale, and charged out of the gate. Before flying off to freedom, she plucked up two Qunari soldiers who were unfortunate enough to stand in her path, and dropped them to their deaths. Her cries of freedom echoed throughout the night.

Rajmael and his comrades charged out of the Ataashi's dungeon, and saw a path leading towards an active eluvian at the end of it. There, the last of the Viddasala's forces were marching into the mirror for their invasion. And there was the Viddasala, with Eva being held by that monstrous Sarebaas the Viddasala commanded.

"Eva!" The Inquisitor shouted desperately to his daughter. Seeing her being held by that fanatic made him forget all the pain he was in. All that mattered was saving her.

"Rajmael!" Eva cried out tearfully. Despite the danger her life was in, Eva was happy to see her step-father was still alive, still trying to save her.

"Parshaara!" The Viddasala spoke sternly. Her men turned about-face, and quickly formed ranks with their spears and other weapons, keeping the Inquisitor and the others from approaching any closer. Rajmael dared not approach, not when that massive sarebaas was holding his daughter's life in his immense hands.

Rajmael grunted in agony when the Anchor began seizing his hand again. It magic began spilling out and snaked around his entire arm, like the Anchor was trying to devour him. Eva looked on in horror, wishing she couldn't believe her eyes. What Isskari told her was true: Rajmael was dying.

The Viddasala looked down on the Inquisitor with an arrogant sense of pity. He had come so far, tried so hard, yet he was still destined to fail. Like a rabbit trying to fight a lion.

"Dear Inquisitor, you have such little time left. Surely you must finaly see the truth now." The Viddasala said as if she were lecturing an ignorant child as he men began marching through the eluvian. "Elven magic already tore the sky apart. If these agents of Fen'heral are not stopped, then you will shatter the world as well."

"Fuck you!" Rajmael spat in hated agony. "You take my daughter, plan to carry out mass murder and conquest all in the name of your zealotry, and dare to claim morality? From where I'm standing, you're the evil one, not these agents of Fen'heral."

"The South was already poisoned by the elves' manipulations. It suffers just as you do now." The Viddasala justified staunchly. "You would have died from the mark on your hand were it not for the actions of their chief agent. The same agent you helped you seal the Breach. Who led you to Skyhold. Who gave Corypheus the Orb, and found the Inquisition. Solas, the agent of Fen'heral."

The Viddasala's words hit Rajmael harder than Corypheus' magic ever could. He wanted to deny it, to throw the Viddasala's accusation back at her, and curse her for a liar. Solas was a trusted member of his entourage, an integral part of the Inquisition, and Rajmael considered him to be a good friend and teacher. Yet, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, Rajmael couldn't; the Viddasala's logic made perfect sense. Solas knew how to stabilize the Anchor just after Conclave had been destroyed, and how to stop the Breach. He led them to Skyhold just when all hope was lost. Solas knew about the Orb Corypheus possessed as if he had actually seen such an artifact before. At every turn, just when things seemed its darkest, Solas knew exactly what they needed and helped guide them to it. If it weren't for Solas, the Inquisition would never have gone as far as it did. Then after Corypheus' death, he just disappeared.

"No...no, that can't be. Solas would never use people like that!" Rajmael dared to deny, even as his logic told him otherwise.

"Argh! Come on, Chuckles, what have you gotten us into?" Varric wondered, trying to grasp what was happening.

"Did you not know? We thought you were his ally." The Viddasala spoke, finally realizing the truth of their conflict. "Solas tricked us all. He was the one who pushed the dying Qunari into the Winter Palace, to lure you into conflict with us. Without him, we could have brought the South peace and wisdom along the gentle path. Now we must take the path of war."

"Bullshit!" Rajmael rejected furiously. "You became my enemy the instant you dared touch my daughter! Give her back to me!"

The Anchor began flaring again, more intensely than it ever had before. It began to burn and rip his hand in the air against Rajmael's will, like it had a mind of its own. Rajmael couldn't control his own damned hand, and the pain was even worse than when he was being burned alive as a child. It was like the Anchor was trying to rip itself off of Rajmael's hand, and burn his entire being to free itself. Rajmael could no longer contain the power of the Anchor.

"I understand your anger. You have shown great love and devotion to this child, but it's too late for you." The Viddasala replied with genuine respect in her voice. "I will see to it that your daughter has a place in the new world the Qun will bring."

"RAJMAEL!" Eva cried out desperately as the giant Sarebaas began to take her through the mirror. She tried to fight back, but this enormous Qunari mage was just too strong. All she could do was look back with painful tears in her eyes as the man who became her father was dying, and she would never make peace with him.

"Panahedan, Inquisitor. If it is any consolation to you, Solas will not outlive you. And your daughter will know the peace and tranquility the Qun brings." The Viddasala beckoned and followed her subordinates through the eluvian.

Rajmael grunted and hissed through his teeth, trying to push the pain out of his mind and regain control the mark. He needed to stay alive just a while longer. He needed to save Eva, and find Solas to finally get the truth.

"We have to get to Solas, he's the only one who has the answers we seek." Rajmael said determinedly to his companions. "We can't leave him for the Viddasala, we owe him that much for what he did for us. But no matter what, I have to save Eva."

"If this Solas is truly behind all of this, I want to know what his endgame is. What reason does he have for pitting the Inquisition and Qunari against one another?" Aedan stated.

"We're going to get Eva back, Rajmael. I swear it." Cassandra promised. She was trying so hard to keep a strong face, but it was hard. She was watching the man she loved dying before her eyes, and he was still trying so hard to save his daughter. Cassandra had to be just as strong for him.

Hawke looked over at Tallis, and for the first time since they met here, he wasn't angry at her. "Tallis, you don't need to follow us any further. You've fulfilled your debt to me by getting us here."

"Thanks, Hawke, but no." Tallis rebutted. "After everything I've done here, I need to see this through to the end. Besides, I promised Eva I would help get her back to her father, and I aim to keep my promise this time."

"So be it. Let's finish this!" Rajmael clenched his sword tightly in his grip. If this was to be his end, he would die a death that befits an Arcane Warrior. Carrying out his mission with his sword in his hand. "Evanura, Nethras, please. Grant me the strength to finish my task. If I must die so Eva might live, then my life has had meaning. I will see you and the rest of my family very soon."

And so the Inquisitor and all who followed him walked through the Eluvian after the Viddasala. Yet another great threat that called upon the world's greatest heroes to combat it. Yet another task that would steer the course of history in Thedas. But victory or defeat, it would all end the same for the Inquisitor, for this battle would end with his death. All he could do was try to die well and with honor. Such is the way of the Arcane Warrior.

Language Codex:

Ma Vhenan: Elven term of affection. Translates as "My Heart".

Ma serannas, elgar: Elven phrase. Translates as "My thanks, Spirit".

Andaran atish'an, Dirth'ena Enasalin: Elven greeting. Translates as "Enter this place in peace, Arcane Warrior".

Garas atishall, Dirth'ena Enasalin: Elven farewell. Translates as "Go in peace, Arcane Warrior".

Sarebaas: Qunari term for mages. Translates literally as "Dangerous/Unwanted Thing".

Arvaraad: Qunari military rank. Translates as "One Who Holds Back Evil".

Sten: Qunari military rank. An infantry platoon commander.

Ataashi: Qunlat term. Translates literally as "The Glorious One".

Hissrad: Qunlat term. Translates more accurately as "Liar".

Parshaara: Qunlat word. Translates as "Enough" or "Stop".

Panahedan: Qunlat term of farewell. Translates as "Take refuge in safety".

Author's Note:

Alright, so here we are at long last!

Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I wanted to get as much detail as I possibly could.

Here it is, the precipice of the end. It's been a long, fun journey, but all good things eventually end.

I don't know how long my next update is going to take. Just like this one, I want to put in as much effort and detail as possible.

I've been putting in a lot of time and effort into this story, and the next chapter deserves %100 percent of my ability.

Please Review and tell me what you think.

Stay tuned for the conclusion of Rajmael of Clan Lavellan!