I don't own Dragon Age or the mods listed.

Chapter 9: Haven and the Temple

Malcolm led the group up the side of a mountain. Even though it has been days since their first night together, both Malcolm and Leliana still beam from it and it showed. Last night Wynne told him about how his Warden duties must always come first, and that they should stop, so Leliana won't get hurt. Malcolm got a little angry with her and yelled at her, about how he's a person with feelings and he would never hurt her then left. Also, that night, Bodahn showed up and ask if they could make camp with them. Malcolm agreed in exchange for supplies and storage.

Malcolm looked at the sky. They were making great time. They should reach Haven sometime tomorrow, if not in two days. He had asked the dwarf merchant if he knew anything about Haven. But, Bodahn had never heard of it. After a few hours, Malcolm looked at the sky again, then turned to the group. "We're almost there. If I am correct, then we could reach Haven within two days if not tomorrow. We make camp early so we can head out by daybreak."

That night. Malcolm was keeping watch with Leliana, who fell asleep. Wynne walked up to him. Malcolm turned his head and saw her out of the corner of his eye. The elven mage sat down a few feet away. "Malcolm? I was mistaken. I am sorry."

"I'm sorry too. You were just trying to help us. I had no reason to yell or be angry at you."

"Thank you. I have some advice for you. Cherish each moment together, as though it might be your last. I am happy that you two found each other and learned to love one another. That is all I have to say. That and it's time for me and Sten to take watch."

Malcolm stood, picked Leliana up, and headed to their tent. On their way, Leliana spoke up. "I can't believe you yelled at a mage."

"Well, she did have good intentions, but she told me that my duties always come first. And also, in a way, she said that we should stop being together."

"She did?"

"In a way. She was just thinking about what's best for us. But hush, mon chérie. Let's go to bed." She giggles. "What? What's so funny?"

"Your accent."

He smiles as he enters their tent. As he lays her down, he says, "I try. I love you."

"I love you too." They share a kiss before going to sleep.

The next day. Malcolm notices the ground is getting flatter. He runs, then stops when he sees the village. He turns his body to see the group running to catch up. He turns back around to see a guard approach. He puts his hands up, to tell the group to stop and the guard that he means no harm. The guard walks up and looks at Malcolm. "Eh. Travelers. Haven has nothing for the likes of you. I suggest you move along."

"Easy there. We mean no harm. We would just like to look around and buy some supplies."

"Fine. Go get supplies and leave." He walks off.

Halia and Alistair walks up. Alistair comments, "Oh, friendly fellow, ain't he? You sure this is the place?"

"Well, this is where Genitivi's notes said that the Urn is. And this place would fit the legends."

Halia asks, "You want me to look around?"

"No. Not yet. Let's head in and take a look around."

The group walks to the center of what looks to be a ghost town. Alistair asks, to no one in particular, "Where is everyone?"

Leliana speaks up. "Look. There's a boy."

Malcolm looks to where Leliana is pointing. Sure enough, there is a young boy singing a song. Malcolm walks over. "Excuse me, young lad." The boy stops singing and looks at him. "Where is everyone?"

"Up at the Chantry, like always. Revered Father Eirik is always singing chants, it's boring."

"'Revered Father'? Huh. Do you know where I can get supplies?"

"Yeah, just keep heading towards the Chantry."

"Thanks, kid."

"Wait, before you go, do you want to know a secret?"

"You know, why not?" The boy pulls a finger-bone from his pocket and shows it. "Where did you find it?"

"Up in the mountains, I did. Don't tell anyone."

"Of course not. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he says before he runs to play.

Leliana walks up. "Did I hear right? He found that thing in the mountains?"

"Yeah. I have a really bad feeling about this. Let's go." They walked up the hill and found more buildings. Then Malcolm heard something faint. "Quiet." They listened, but the sound was gone. "I thought I heard something." They approached a building. "Wait here." He walked inside into what looked like a shop.

As he approached the shopkeeper, the man asks, "Who are you? You're not from Haven…"

"I know that. But why do people keep telling me that?"

"We… we don't get very many visitors."

"What can you tell me about Haven?"

"How would you describe the place you only know as home?"

"Fair point. Where is the Chantry?"

"Just keep heading up and you'll find it."

"Thank you for your time."

"Sure."

Malcolm walked out of the store and motioned the group to follow. As they walked up a hill, they heard chanting. On top of the hill was a single building. They walked in. "… we are blessed beyond measure; we are chosen by the holy and Beloved to be Her guardians," said the elder man in front of the village, who was a mage thanks to Malcolm's magic. He continued, "This sacred duty is given to us alone; rejoice, my brethren, and prepare your hearts to receive Her." Malcolm and group walked up and stopped a few feet behind the villagers. "Lift up your voices, and despair not, for She will raise Her faithful servants to glory when Her-" The man sees the group. He speaks to them. "I understand that you are new here, but common courtesy dictates that one shouldn't interrupt. No matter. We were just about done here anyway."

One of the villagers spoke up. "But your Reverence, we have not completed the Sacraments of the Holy Mother or… or sung the Invocation-"

The Father replied, "Be calm, Nuada. We have an honored guest. Surely the Sacraments can wait. That is all for today, my children. I shall see you tomorrow. For now, I should see to our visitor."

Malcolm said, "There was no need to end the sermon."

"It is better this way. Many of the villagers are uncomfortable in the presence of strangers." The villagers walk out, leaving the Father and a few guards with the group. "My name is Eirik, the Revered Father of Haven. And who are you?"

"My name is Malcolm, I'm a Grey Warden."

"A Grey Warden? Hmm. Why are you here?"

"A friend of mine told me that he was heading this way, Brother Genitivi. Have you seen him?"

"We find outsiders… disruptive. They bring others, and before long, Haven is changed. We will go to any lengths to prevent that." Malcolm's bad feeling got worse. "You understand a man's need to protect his family, don't you? Brothers, you know what must be done."

Malcolm went for his sword just as Eirik swung his staff. Malcolm parried then parried a second attack. Using some fancy swordplay, Malcolm sent the staff flying from Eirik and did a quick slash on his chest, killing him. The rest of the group quickly made short work of the guards. Malcolm turned to the group. "Look around for any sign of Genitivi." Malcolm noticed a cloak on a hanger, and walked to it. He grabbed it and put it on.

"Malcolm," he turned and saw Zevran calling to him, "I found something."

Malcolm walked over. "What is it?"

Zevran was feeling a wall. His hand stopped on a brick. "Watch," he said as he pushed it in. Then part of the wall revealed itself to be a door, as it went in and moved to the side. The group gathered around as Malcolm went through. In the room on the ground, laid someone in Chantry robes.

Malcolm walked over as the person asks, "Who are you? They… they've sent you to finish it?"

Malcolm kneeled down as he asks, "Brother Genitivi?"

"You're… you're not one of them… thank the Maker."

"Are you all right?"

"What do you think? Weeks of scant food and water, the torture… oh, I've never felt better!"

"I'm here to help."

"No." He sighs. "I apologize. I shouldn't have been rude. The leg's not doing so well and… and I can't feel my foot."

"Wynne, can you do anything?"

The elf comes over and takes a look. "The leg is wounded, but that will heal in time. The foot… may have to come off."

Genitivi sighs as Malcolm and Wynne wrap the leg. "I thought you might say that… but if the foot goes, it goes. There are more important things than an old man's foot. I don't have time to rest now. I'm so close. The Urn is just up that mountain."

"Are you crazy?! You're hurt. You are going back to Denerim, where it's safe."

"No. I'm so close. And you will waste time by taking me back."

"Only if all of us goes with you." He looks at the group. "Me, Leliana, Morrigan, and Sten will go to the top of the mountain. The rest of you will take Genitivi and go to Redcliffe."

Halia replies. "Sure thing."

"We need to find cloaks for you three, as we are going to the top of a mountain with ice and snow. We should find some at the store. Let's go." Malcolm helped Genitivi up and gave him to Alistair. Once outside they had to fight more villagers and made their way to the store. Once inside they found the body of a knight from Redcliffe and cloaks for the other three. Back at the beginning of Haven. Malcolm, Leliana, Morrigan, and Sten all had their cloaks on. They parted with the rest of the party.

On the mountain path, the next day. Malcolm was leading with Morrigan behind him, then Sten, with Leliana at the rear. The all had the hoods on their heads. Malcolm said over his shoulder, "Keep moving. The legend says the tomb sits on top of this peak."

Behind him, Morrigan says, "Lovely. We can freeze to death, while digging for the bones of a madwoman."

Sometime later they were on the side of the mountain. They were walking when Malcolm heard something. He used one hand to take his hood off. Then he said, both with his hand and voice, "Hold." He drew his sword and shield out from under the cloak. Then an ax came flying at him, as he put his shield up, which caused his cloak to fall off. Then came the cultists. Malcolm threw one over him using his shield. He then thrusted his sword through the next cultist. As he pulled his sword out, Malcolm used his shield to knock the body off. Then he cut the leg of the next one, which caused him to fall off, and then pinned the forth against the mountain with his shield. Malcolm looked ahead and saw a group coming, so he turned his head and yelled, "Sten!" He turned his head back and killed the pinned cultist.

Sten grabbed a cultist and threw him off, then ran Asala, his sword or his 'soul' as its name means, through another cultist. As he pulled it out the cultist fell on his knees, and Sten sliced him from the collar bone to the other side. Sten then ran to the incoming group and used Asala as a board to push them off the edge. With only one left, he kicked him off, as the group jogged past him.

Malcolm was jogging on to a clearing on the mountain. He saw a fireball was incoming. He crouched down and covered up with his shield as he yelled, "Down!" The fireball hit a few feet away from him. As he got up he looked to see where it came from. As he stood up, he looks at Leliana, who took cover behind a statue, and told her, "Kill the mage!"

Leliana nods as she sticks an arm out and catches one of the cultists in the chest with one of her daggers. She then runs, jumps, and dives and gets two cultists in their necks. She rolls, stands, without stopping, runs and throws her daggers into two separate cultists. She then grabs her bow and one arrow, shoots it into the neck of the sixth, jumps, lands on the cultist, jumps off the cultist, flips, and lands on the ground. As she slowly stands up, she nocks another arrow, and says, "The righteous stand before the darkness," she pulls the string back as she aims, "and the Maker shall guide their hand." She lets go and the arrow flies for yards before it lands in the throat of the mage.

Malcolm and Morrigan stand back-to-back. Malcolm says, "Steady," as cultists rush towards them. A cultist goes to thrust his sword into Malcolm, but Malcolm throws his shield toward his body, hitting the sword, then stuns the cultist with a shield hit then does a diagonal downward sword strike. Morrigan hits a cultist in the abdomen, then the head. Two cultists rush Malcolm. He blocks with his sword and shield, then pushes them off. He spins, getting the two with his sword, stops and thrusts his sword through a third.

Morrigan stands ready. A cultist tries to do a downward strike, but she dodges, which causes the cultist to hit the ground with his sword. Morrigan spins him around, holds him close to her with her staff, and infects him with a spell. She then pushes him into a group, then he explodes killing the closest ones but knocking other down. Morrigan looks and laughs. Somewhere a cultist yells out, "Andraste, hear your faithful servants and come to us in our need!" and a horn blows. She then looks to the side and saw more cultists. She drops her staff and runs towards them. She jumps onto her hands, pushes off, then, in a cloud of black smoke, changes into a giant spider, and lands on the group. She then jumps onto another cultist, killing him. Then she hears a roar, and looks up to see a high dragon flying in.

Leliana sees the cultist that summoned the dragon, and puts an arrow through the man's chest. Then as a group everyone gathered around Malcolm as he jogged to a spot, saying, "Strike when she comes for me."

Leliana found a spot on where she could rain down arrows. "Sten," she said pointing at her and her spot. Knowing what she means, Sten got into position and held his sword as a plank. Leliana jumped on his sword and jumped on to the pillar. Malcolm just stood there as the dragon landed and hopped in front of him. The dragon lunged its head, as Malcolm spun to the side and did a downward strike. Leliana yelled as she let an arrow go, "Face me, creature!" She sent another as the dragon turned its head towards her. She sent a third as the dragon used its tail to destroy the top part of her pillar, luckily, she saw this early and jump off just as it happened. She ran parallel to the dragon, sending more arrows to it, as the dragon followed.

Then Sten ran towards the dragon, jumped and plunged his sword into the body creating large gash. As Sten fell to the ground on his feet, the dragon roared and threw up its head. Then Morrigan had her target. She was busy charging up a lightning spell, saying, "Let us end this," as the dragon saw her. She spun around, just as the dragon lunged its head towards her, unleashing the spell at the head to stun it, then at the gash Sten created. The eyes burst with blood and electricity, as the dragon fell on the ground. Malcolm walked towards the head and looked at it. Malcolm then inverted his sword and lifted it above his head as his eyes glowed. Then he drove the blade into the head to make sure that it was dead.

Then some blood ran up the sword, up and into his arms. As he pulled his sword out, all the blood went into his arms, and he felt more powerful. He continued to stare at his arms, after dropping his sword, as everyone walked up to him. Leliana asked, "What was that?"

Malcolm looked at her. "I don't know, but I feel stronger, more powerful. Like I gained new power." When he grabbed his sword, magical fire burst up the blade from the cross guard. "Strange. I was never able to do that before. Whatever that was, we need to continue." He puts his sword up as Leliana hands him his shield. He nods and she nods back. "Does anyone have a clue as to where the entrance is?"

Leliana speaks up. "I do. I saw it from the pillar." They follow her to giant doors covered with snow.

Malcolm grabs his shield as he says, "What are we waiting for? Start digging." It took a few minutes before they could open one door. Then one-by-one they entered. It was a big room, very warm, with one other door.

As they approached the door, a figure appeared out of smoke. Malcolm readied himself for a fight but the figure put a hand up. The figure spoke to them, but with a voice that sounded like he was from another realm, "I bid you welcome, pilgrim."

Malcolm asks, but was still cautious, "Who are you?"

"I am the Guardian of the Ashes. I have waited years for this."

"For me?"

"You are the first to arrive in a very long time. It has been my duty, my life, to protect the Urn and prepare the way for the faithful who come to revere Andraste. For year beyond counting have I been here, and shall I remain until my task is done and the Imperium has crumbled into the sea."

"Let's not waste time. How do I get to the Urn?"

"You have come to honor Andraste, and you shall, if you prove yourself worthy. It is not my place to decide your worthiness. The Gauntlet does that. If you are found worthy, you will see the Urn and be allowed to take a small pinch of the Ashes for yourself. If not…"

"What is the Gauntlet?"

"The Gauntlet tells the true pilgrims from the false. You will undergo tests of faith, and we shall see how your soul fares."

"I am ready to face it."

"Before you go, there is something I must ask. I see that the path that led you here was not easy. There is suffering in your past. You abandoned your father and mother, leaving them in the hands of Rendon Howe, knowing he would show no mercy. Do you think you failed your parents?"

"How do you know of my past?!"

"It is shown on your face and the scars on your heart. Do you think you failed your parents?"

"Shut up."

"I require an answer. Do you think you failed your parents?"

Malcolm pulled his sword out. "Shut up."

"Do you think you failed your parents?"

Malcolm swung at the Guardian. "Shut up!"

But the Guardian disappeared into smoke and reappeared to Malcolm's right. "I require an answer."

Malcolm swung again. "Shut up!"

Again, the Guardian disappears and reappears behind Malcolm. "Do you think you failed your parents?"

Malcolm spun and threw his sword at the Guardian, while yelling, "I SAID, 'SHUT UP'!" He slumped to his knees as his sword hits stone, crying. "If you know of my past then what do you want to hear? That I failed them? That I should have dragged them with me? Not a day goes by when I think about that night. I saw my sister-in-law and her son, my nephew, dead in their room. I watched as Howe's thugs went through the front gates. I heard the screams of dozens but I could not help anyone. Every night, I dream that I'm back at Highever, and watch as my family gets slaughtered and I can't do a damn thing to stop it. All I can do now is to make the bastard responsible pay, but I wish that I could have saved just one person. Since that night, my faith weakened. Then not long after, the man who saved my life, died and my faith shattered. I… I…"

Leliana walks over and hugs him, as the Guardian says, "The way is open. Good luck, and may you find want you seek." He disappears into smoke as the door opens.

Leliana helps him up, as Sten hands Malcolm his sword. Grabbing it, he says, "Thank you, both of you."

They start to go through the door. Then, the Guardian appeared. "Only Malcolm can pass."

They started to protest, but Malcolm said, "I'll go alone, I'll be fine."

He walked into a room that had a wall in the middle of the room. Then a figure, that Malcolm hasn't seen in a long time, walks through the wall. The spirit of Teyrn Bryce Cousland spoke, with a voice from another realm, "My dearest child…"

Malcolm asks, "F-Father?"

"You know that I am gone, and all your prayers and wishes will not bring me back. Pup… I know you miss me, but my death, and my life, should not have a hold on you. Honor me and your mother. Set your eyes on the horizon, do not look back, and do not falter. You have such a long road ahead of you, and you must be prepared. And so I leave this in your hands," he holds an amulet out which Malcolm takes, "I know you will do great things with it."

Malcolm, on the verge of crying again, walks up to the spirit and hugs it and the spirit hugs back. "I… I will make you proud of me, Father."

"You have already made me proud."

"I-I love you."

"I love you too, my son," the spirit says as it fades away and leaves Malcolm looking at the amulet in his palm. He slowly closes his hand over it as his eyes glow. He closes his eyes. He opens both his eyes and hand. He takes one last look at the amulet before he quickly closes his hand, then he put it around his neck.

He walks to the door. "I'm ready. You hear me? I'm ready. Make me believe again," he says to the Gauntlet, before he pushes open the doors. He walked into big rectangular room. He walked into the center before the hairs on his neck stood up. He only had a second before he was blasted onto the ground from behind with electricity. He only managed to stand up before an arrow got him in his right shoulder. As he went to pull the arrow out, a shield broke his nose and he tripped over his own feet and fell on his back. He pulled the arrow out of his shoulder and threw it away. When he looked up, he saw the two people, that he would never have imagine, who were responsible for what just happened.

Two figures appeared from the shadows. "What's a matter, Malcolm? You look like you've seen a ghost," said a dark and evil image of Malcolm when it walked into the light.

The second figure started to walk over. "Not who you were expecting?" said the dark and evil image of Leliana, as it put an arm on the shoulder of the darker Malcolm. "Were you expecting, maybe, Rendon? Or better yet, maybe you were expecting to see multiples of your family getting slaughtered over and over again by Rendon?" That did it. Malcolm's eyes glowed with rage, as he drew his sword and rushed them. The dark image of Leliana dodge his attacks, until the dark image of Malcolm knocked Malcolm off his feet. Dark Leliana walked around the stunned Malcolm, and hung on Dark Malcolm, while saying, "Ooh, big baby. What? Is 'Daddy' not here to hold your hand?"

The darker Malcolm added, "'Please, quit talking about my family. I can't get over it.'" Malcolm rushed them again, in a fit of rage. Repeatedly, they kept egging him into attacking. Finally, still enraged, Malcolm threw a hand out and electricity emerged from his fingertips. The dark images covered behind the shield. When it stopped, they both came out, with the darker Leliana laughing evilly and the darker Malcolm saying, "Oh, I wonder what my father would say, if he was still here." Then it finally dawned on him. The more he would act in rage, the stronger they got and the weaker he would get. Plus, his family is still with him. Nearly exhausted, Malcolm got up and smiled. Dark Malcolm asked, "What are you smiling about?"

Malcolm stood his ground and smiled. "I'm smiling because my father would be proud."

Dark Leliana asks, "Proud of what? About how much you are being a baby about dead parents?"

"No. He would be proud about what kind of person I am, and that I now realize that, not only him, but my family is still with me. Go ahead, keep trying to taunt me. I will only defend others and myself," he finished and he made his eye glow. In a fit of rage, the dark image of Malcolm rushed. Malcolm deflected its attack with his shield, and dodged the attack of Dark Leliana. He then parried two attacks and backed up to give himself room. Then Dark Malcolm rushed again, and Malcolm spun and, with electricity coiling down his sword, cut the dark image in half, dissipating it. Malcolm turned and brought his shield up, which made contact with the darker Leliana, knock it on its back and its weapons out of its hands.

As it tried to pull its bow out, Malcolm walked up and cut the string. Malcolm held his weapon at the thing's throat. Dark Leliana cried out to him, "M-Mon chérie? It's me. Leli. Mal?"

Malcolm lowered his sword and started to walk away. Then, the dark image tried to jump on him, but Malcolm had inverted his sword and which the image landed on. As the image dissipated, Malcolm whispered, "Maker, forgive me." Malcolm almost collapsed from exhaustion. "No. I. Must. Press. On." Getting up, Malcolm walked over to the door, and opened it. Inside was a pedestal, behind that was a wall of fire, and beyond that was a flight of stairs.

Malcolm walked up to the pedestal, leaned on it, and read the inscription. 'Cast off the trappings of worldly life and cloak yourself in the goodness of spirit. King and slave, lord and beggar; be born anew in the Maker's sight.' Malcolm sighs. "Great. A riddle, of sorts. Let's see. 'Cast off the trappings of worldly life'. Well. Let's see if this works." He stands up and strips to his smallclothes. He puts his armor on top of the altar. Nothing happened. Malcolm read it again. "'…cloak yourself in the goodness of spirit… be born anew in the Maker's sight.'" He walks up to the wall of fire. When he stuck a hand out to touch it, he felt nothing. "Well, here goes nothing." He stepped into the fire. He feels the heat, but no pain. When he steps out of the fire, his armor is magically put on him.

Behind him, the Guardian appears and the fire disappears. "You have been through the trials of the Gauntlet," Malcolm turns to face him, "you have walked the path of Andraste, and like her, you have been cleansed. You have proven yourself worthy, pilgrim. Approach the Sacred Ashes," the Guardian finishes as he vanishes.

Malcolm turns around and walks up the stairs and to the Urn of Sacred Ashes. He immediately kneels down and prays, "Oh, Maker. Our Holy Father, thank You for providing me this honor. I… I find myself conflicted. I must take a pinch of the Ashes to cure a noble man, but at the same time, I feel like I should never disturb the Ashes of Your Beloved. Please, send me a sign that it is Your will that gave me this honor."

The Guardian appears. "Pilgrim, why have you not taken a pinch?"

"I must in order to cure a noble man, but I feel I should not."

"Ah. I see. Do not worry. It is the Maker's will that allowed you to approach the Urn in the first place."

"How can you be sure?"

"Believe in the Maker as your beloved does."

"I… I have trouble with that."

"I see. You are speaking about your home and Ostagar."

"Yes. I have a hard time believing that the Maker's will let those happen."

"The Maker has a purpose for everyone, including you and those with you. I cannot say what, but you must learn to believe again, like your beloved Leliana does."

Malcolm stands up and faces the Guardian. "I will try." He holds out a hand. "Thank you."

The Guardian take it. "Good luck, Grey Warden." He disappears.

Malcolm turns to the Urn. "Maker, forgive me," he says as he grabs a pouch and carefully removes the top of the Urn. He carefully takes a pinch of the Ashes and puts it in the pouch. He secures the pouch to his belt. He then turns around and walks to the beginning of the temple.

Meanwhile near Haven. The rest of the party stetted up camp to wait for Malcolm near Haven as Bodahn offered to take Genitivi. Alistair walks up to Halia. "Hey."

"Oh, hey, Alistair."

"So all this time we've spent together… you know the tragedy, the brushes with death, the constant battles with the whole Blight looming over us… will you miss it once it's over?"

"Must you always joke about such things?"

"Yes. Only one of the old sisters at the monastery used to never laugh at my jokes. No matter how hard I tried, she'd just glare at me and then rap me with her cane."

"Not to be rude, but where are you going with this?"

"I know it… might sound strange, considering we haven't known each other for very long, but I've come to… care for you. A great deal. I think maybe it's because we've gone through so much together. I don't know. Or maybe I'm imagining it. Maybe I'm fooling myself. Am I? Fooling myself? Or do you think you might ever… feel the same way about me?"

"Alistair, I… I don't know. I have a bad history with humans, males in particular. Do you think I could care for a human man?"

"I don't know. I sure hope so."

They start getting closer. "Alistair…"

"Yeah?"

They get into a few inches apart. "Alistair… I… I… I need some air," she says as she runs away. She hides behind a tree and starts crying.

"Are you alright, my dear?" Wynne leaned against the tree.

"No. I… I have feelings for Alistair but I feel like I would betray Tamlen."

"By all means, tell me about this, Tamlen."

"Tamlen was, is, my fiancé. I was to be married a few weeks ago to him. We found ancient elven-human ruins in a cave. And inside said-cave, was a magical mirror. Tamlen touched it, he said he say place through the mirror-"

"An eluvian, my dear," the older elf explained. "An ancient mirror used by the ancient elves as a means of communication and transportation. But what happened next?"

"Then a flash of light knocked me out. Duncan, the Grey-"

"I know Duncan, dear."

"Well, Duncan and Malcolm found me and I was tainted with the Blight. But they never found Tamlen."

"Ah, so I see. Well, I can't do much except give advice. Listen to your heart, my dear," she said as she walked off.

The next day. Malcolm and group walked down the road from Haven and saw the camp. He walked towards it as Halia and Alistair ran towards him. Malcolm asked, "I thought I said to wait at Redcliffe?"

Halia replied, "You did. But Bodahn offered to take Genitivi, so we decided to stay and wait for you."

"Well, I have some of the Ashes."

Alistair asked, "So, it's not a myth or legend or whatever."

Malcolm grabbed the pouch and said, "I still feel bad for disturbing them. But we need to move. I still don't know if we got all of the cultist."

Halia replied, "That is why we only built a fire. Just say the word, and we can move."

"Smart, let's move."

The next night, Malcolm looked at the sleeping figure of Leliana. He never told her about the trials. The almost mental battle of him with the dark figures still haunt him. He was so worried about what she would say, that he never realized that he fell asleep. He was back at the temple. He opened the door to the room of the battle, but found himself in front of the archdemon. The dragon roared and looked straight at him. He woke with a jolt, which woke Leliana. She asked, "What's wrong?"

Malcolm didn't answer. Instead he got up, and went to find Halia and Alistair. They met at the fire. Alistair asked, "You both felt it too? It was like the archdemon saw us. Saw us. I think that…" there was a soft growl, "Wait. Did you hear that?" All three drew their weapons. Malcolm could feel the hairs on his neck stand up. He walked towards the edge of camp and looked into the forest. Then he dove to the side just as a creature charged out of the shadows. "Shriek!" The darkspawn then jumped on top of Malcolm, and all he could do was to use his sword as a plank to keep the arms back. Then two arrows pierced the head of it and the creature went limp. Malcolm pushed the thing off just as more came out of the shadows.

Almost half an hour has passed before Halia ran after a figure that didn't look like a shriek. She was lining up a shot before she saw clearly who it was. Shocked, her arrow went past the figure, which stopped. "Please," the figure cried, "don't look at me."

She dropped her bow as tears formed and Alistair ran up to her. Halia ran at the dark figure. When she got closer, she thought her eyes where lying to her. "T-Tamlen?"

"Please, leave me. I… don't want to hurt you, Halia," Tamlen said before he ran.

"Tamlen, stop!" she yelled as she ran after him, with Alistair behind her.

Tamlen tripped and Halia caught up with him. "Don't look at me. Please, leave me alone."

"Tamlen, w-what happened to you?"

"T-The mirror, transformed, me. Please, kill me."

Halia starts to cry. "No, I-I can't."

"Have mercy. Kill me."

"I can't."

"You would do service. Please, kill because of love. Mind slipping. Hurry."

"I-I love you."

"I, love, you, too."

Halia pulls a dagger out. "Please, forgive me."

"I forgive. Do it." She plunges the dagger into his heart. "Thank you…" he says with his last breath. She let's go of the dagger and cries.

Alistair watched the whole thing. He walks over and kneels next to her. "Halia… I," he doesn't finish before she throws herself into his chest. He holds her tight as she continues to cry.

Some feet away is Malcolm and Leliana. They watch as Halia continues to cry into Alistair's arms. This gets Malcolm thinking. He knows who that was. If that is what happens to Grey Wardens if they don't die, then he should spend as much time with Leliana as he can. After all, he only has three decades before it's time. Leliana asks, "Who was it? The person Halia killed?"

"That was Tamlen. Her fiancé tainted by the Blight."

"Wait. She was engaged to that… ghoul?"

"Yeah. They were to be married a few weeks ago. But they ran into a magical mirror that was tainted and tainted them both with the Blight. Come on. We should give them some time to themselves." Malcolm and Leliana walks back to camp. "That has me thinking. What I'm about to tell you, is a secret that only Wardens know. And this is why. I… only have… thirty years left. In order to become a Grey Warden, I had to drink… darkspawn blood."

"What? Isn't it poison?"

"Me and Halia weren't the only recruits that Duncan had, just the ones who survived. Daveth died after drinking the blood. Jory refused and Duncan killed him in self-defense. But we only have thirty years left, before the blood kills us or," he looks behind him, "or turns us into ghouls." He looks at Leliana. "I," he starts to blush as they stop in front of their tent, "I want you, tonight. I want us together as one, tonight. If you'll let me."

"You mean… of course. I want you too," she says as she puts her arms around his neck. After a quick kiss, they disappear into the tent.

Meanwhile. Halia continues to cry, while Alistair just holds her. After a while, her crying turns into sobbing. Alistair pats her head, gently, as he asks, "Do you want to talk?" She continues to sob. "Alright, I'll go first. I love pillow fight. My favorite food is cheese. Oh look, I have cheese on me and I'm hungry."

Halia laughs. "You are so random."

He smiles. "You're telling me. I would do the most random things to make people laugh. Speaking of which, do you want me to dance. If so, I could put on a dress and dance the Remigold."

She laughs more and lifts her head. Smiling, she says, "Thank you, Alistair."

"Don't you remember? My job is to be the funny, annoying one." They both smile. Slowly, the get closer to each other. Then, they finally kiss. Halia puts a hand on the side of his face, while Alistair puts one on the back of her head.

They break apart and Halia says, "I… thank you." They stand up and look at the body. They spent a few minutes doing the Dalish Passing Ceremony. After that, they got back to camp and was greeted with some moaning. Being curious, they followed the noise to Malcolm's and Leliana's tent, and figured that it was Leliana moaning.

Morrigan walked up to Halia and Alistair. "Will you tell them to keep it down? Some of us are trying to sleep."

Inside the tent, the moaning seemed to quiet down some. They heard Malcolm say, "I love you, mon chérie."

They heard Leliana reply with, "Je t'aime aussi, mon chérie."

The group spent the next few days traveling to Redcliffe.

Hey guys. If you have seen the trailers for this game, then you would know where I got the one part from. I changed it to match the story, for example: I changed the darkspawn to cultist and I added Kolgrim summoning the dragon. I also changed the Gauntlet to make it more story based. In the game it was more puzzle based than story driven. I had fun with the dark images, I kinda based it off of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Water Temple miniboss, Dark Link. I also liked how I made the interactions with the Guardian and the Reflection more emotional. I decided to not violate my story by it being rated T so I followed Halia and Alistair going to came and hearing the moaning. And sorry about it being so long.