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

Chapter 12: Soldier's Peak and the Return to Ostagar

As soon as the group walks out of Orzammar, Oghren, the group's new dwarven berserker, sighs and says, "Give me a moment."

Malcolm, being the caring person that he is, looks at him. "Is everything all right?"

Oghren looks at him. "Of course everything's all right! Psht! Just give me one sodding moment." He looks up at the sky. "By the Stone, I feel like I'm about to fall off the world with all that sky up there."

Malcolm nods. "Well, take your time. I need you ready to fight."

Oghren looks up at him a little annoyed. "If I could fight Randar Vollney's second after downing fifteen lichen-ales in half an hour, I'm not going to be put off by a high sodding ceiling. Well, let's get moving. We're losing… whatchacallit? Daylight." Malcolm nods and motions for the group to follow him.

At the Dalish camp. Halia walks up to Lanaya, who says, "It is done. The essence of the wolf's heart has banished all traces of cursed blood from the hunters. It is too bad that Zathrian had to die. I… I felt it, when he departed. I think he was ready to go. It will be difficult to fill Zathrian's shoes. He was our keeper for many centuries and he will be sorely missed. But I am keeper now. Let me say it officially, then: I hereby swear to uphold the terms of the ancient contract our people formed with the Grey Wardens. Call and we shall come, with great speed and purpose, and we shall strike at your foes. This I swear."

Halia gives her a small bow. "Thank you, Lanaya."

She returns the bow. "It has been a long time since the Dalish marched to war… but I trust that, in the end, we shall make a difference for you." Halia gives her one final bow and walks away from the Dalish.

Somewhere near the Imperial Highway. Malcolm puts his sword and shield on the ground then lays down spread eagle, with his sword within easy arms reach. He looks up at the night sky, thinking about the last few days.

They had ran errands for a dwarven lord called Harrowmont to gain his favor and to support him in his bid for the throne. The most difficult one was finding a Paragon called Branka down in the Deep Trenches as she was looking for an ancient dwarven artifact called the Anvil of the Void. They found her and Malcolm could tell that she became obsessed with finding it. The group found the Anvil and the Paragon Caridin, the dwarf who made the Anvil. The dwarf turned golem told the group about the tale of the Anvil, how it used souls from dwarves to bring life to the golems. Shale then piped up and Caridin explained that the former was the only female dwarf to volunteer. Then Branka charged in and demanded that the Anvil be turned over to her. Tempers flared follow by steel and after the battle, Branka laid dead and Caridin jumped into a river of lava after making a crown for the next king. They made a detour to the Cadash Thaig, its location known to Shale in a new memory that Caridin triggered, making their way to the center that had a monument to those who became golems and Shale found her name. They then went to Orzammar and crowned Harrowmont king, but soon after Bhelen, Harrowmont's opponent, attacked in rage. Then they made their way back to the surface, with Harrowmont's promise that the dwarves will march against the Blight.

A pressure on his arm brings him out of his daydream. He looks and smiles as he sees Leliana laying on his arm looking up at the night sky. He slowly snakes his hand up from her leg and to her abdomen. Leliana smiles and grabs his hand before it reaches her chest. She looks at him. "Euh euh. Pas encore, mon chéri. Vous devez travailler pour cela cette fois." (Uh uh. Not yet, my darling. You have to work for it this time.)

Malcolm rolls over and hovers above her with a flirtatious smile. He replies with his trademark bad Orlesian accent, "Tu veux parier?" (You want to bet?) Malcolm wasn't sure what made Leliana smile this time, but he didn't care as he lowered his head to hers and their lips made contact. At first, he was teasing her, just lightly brushing his lips on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulls him closer. He complied and went in for a deep brief kiss, then he pulls his head back and smiles before going for another kiss. He then raised his head an inch to break the kiss and started planting pecks from her lips to her chin then jawline then to her neck, as she moaned.

Then someone behind Malcolm cleared their throat. Malcolm rolled off of his love, grabbed his sword and stood up, facing the guy who interrupted their moment. The man went wide-eyed and brought his hands up, indicating that he wasn't a threat. "Easy friend. I didn't mean to sneak up on you. It's just that you're a hard man to find. Where are my manners? The name is Levi, Levi Dryden." Malcolm stood at ease and wondered where he heard the Dryden name before. "Did Duncan ever mention me? Levi of the Coins? Levi the Trader?"

Then it clicked in Malcolm's head where he heard the name before. "Dryden's a black name. Your family lost its land and titles."

"Well, Teryn Cousland's son should know that Ferelden politics seldom are what they seem. But here I go carrying on while you have a Blight to stop. So I'll get to the point. Duncan promised me that we would go look into something important for the Wardens and me. But since Duncan is, well, no more, I figured that we could go together. If you'll give me your map, I can show you where to meet me." Malcolm nods and gives Levi his map, who then draws an 'x' on the North Road. He hands it back to Malcolm as he says, "I'll wait for you here."

Malcolm grabs the map and looks at it. "Got it."

"Good day." He turns around and leaves.

Malcolm grabs his shield and walks to Morrigan's area of camp. "Morrigan, I need you to go find Halia and tell her that we'll be late." Morrigan nods, runs, and changes into a bird. Malcolm walks over to Leliana, who is waiting in front of their tent. Malcolm drops his sword and shield and looks at Leliana. "Now," he says with a smile, "where were we?" Leliana smiles as she walks close to him and wraps her arms around his neck. "Oh, I think I remember." He grabs her hips and pulls her close and silences her squeal with a kiss on the lips. He then pulled her through the flaps and into the tent.

At the same time, in the Brecilian Forest. Halia was on watch as Wynne left her after thanking her for taking the time to find Aneirin. Then Alistair came up to her, looking nervous. Halia looks at him. "Hey."

Alistair nearly jumped. "Oh, hey."

"You okay?"

"Uh, yes I am," he lied and Halia just looked at him. He sighs as he looks at his feet. "No. It's just… (sighs) All right. I guess I really don't know how to ask you this."

"Is this very important?"

"Errr… no, I suppose not. I just thought… we're together at the camp? Maybe we could… talk?"

Halia looks closely at Alistair's face as she stands up. "Are you sweating?"

Alistair brings up his hands and replies a little too quickly. "No! I mean yes. I mean… I'm a little nervous, sure. Not that this is anything bad or frightening or… well, yes. Oh, how do I say this? You'd think it would be easier, but every time I'm around you, I feel as if my head's about to explode. I-I can't think straight."

Halia is barely able to keep herself from smiling at his blunder, and to mess with him she pretends to be hurt. "Oh? Thanks a lot."

"I don't mean it like that. I mean…" he covers his face with his hands, "How did Malcolm do this?" He puts his hands down. "All right, let me start over. Here's the thing: being near you makes me crazy, but I can't imagine being without you. Not ever. I don't know how to say this another way. I want to spend the night with you. Here, in the camp." His face goes bright red as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Maybe this is too fast, I don't know, but… I know what I feel."

Halia takes a step closer to him. "Even though I'm not human like you?"

He chuckles. "Especially because of that."

"Here? In your tent? That's not very special."

"I wanted to wait for the perfect time, the perfect place… but when will it be perfect? If things were, we wouldn't have met. We sort of… stumbled into each other, and despite this being the least perfect time, I still found myself falling for you in between all the fighting and everything else. I really don't want to wait anymore. I've… I've never done this before. I want it to be with you… while we have the chance. In case…"

Halia grabs one of his hands and looks into his eyes. "Don't talk like that, there will always be time later."

"Will there? You don't know that. I don't know that. I'd like to be able to say that I threw caution to the wind at least once."

"Very well. If that's what you really want…" she says as she grabs his other hand.

Alistair puts their hands closer together as he looks into her eyes. "I think so. I hope so." Halia nods as she stands on her toes and kisses him. She pulls back and leads him to his tent. Once inside, Halia starts to take his armor off. "W-What are you doing?"

Halia doesn't stop. "Taking this bulky armor off. Please, trust me."

Alistair starts to help her while going red. "I-I do. It's just that… I… I…" Halia stops and silences him with a kiss. After a few minutes, Alistair is in his small clothes, his face bright red.

Then Halia starts on her own armor. She stops and looks at him. He then turns around thinking that's what she was waiting for. She smiles. "Are you going to stand there, or are you gonna help?" He turns and reaches a timid hand out to help. "I'm not gonna bite."

"I'm sorry." He gets closer and starts helping. "I've never done something like this before."

She smiles. "I can tell." After a few minutes, Halia takes off her last piece of armor, and stands in her small clothes. Then she grabs Alistair's hands, who was just staring at her, and pulls him close. She smiles then stands on her toes and kisses him, her hands letting go of his and slowly wraps around his neck. His hands, shaking, slowly touches her bare skin. She then pulls him down to the ground with him over her making sure that he doesn't touch her. She pulls her head away from his as she notices his hesitation to touch her. She then rolls themselves over and look as Alistair is close to having a panic attack. She smiles as she lowers her head to the side of his. "Hey, it's alright. You can touch my skin." As he hesitates, she grabs one of his hands and places it on her back, and she hears him take a sharp breath in. She whispers into his ear. "See, it's okay to touch." She plants a kiss on his cheek as his other hand touches her leg. She then raises her head and looks into his eyes, before kissing him.

An hour later. Halia and Alistair cuddle in their tent looking at the top. Alistair breaks the silence. "Hmm. You know, according to all the sisters at the monastery, I should have been struck by lightning by now."

Halia smiles. "That so?"

"Yep. Lightning first, then the end of civilization as we know it. I'm a bad, bad man. You do realize the rest of our little party here is going to talk, right? They do that."

"First smart comment and I feed them to the darkspawn."

"See? This is why I love you. So… what now? Where do we go from here?"

Halia looks at him. "We stay together, no matter what happens."

"Right. I can handle that. I hope. Have I told you that I love you?" Alistair looks at her and Halia nods. "I did? Well, it won't kill you to hear it again, will it?"

Halia smiles. "I love you, too."

"See? Was that so hard?"

"For me or for you? Cause if I remember correctly, you were stumbling over your words, which just made you even more cute."

"Just all part of my master plan!" Halia leans on an arm and starts hitting him with her other one. Alistair covers up with his arms. "Ow, stop that. You big meanie." Halia laughs and puts her head on his chest and they both fall asleep.

The next day. Halia was leading the group through the woods, when she heard something moving in the bushes. She dropped into a crouch and drew her bow and an arrow, as Morrigan walked out. Halia put her stuff up as Morrigan walked up to her. "Malcolm and his group will be late getting to Redcliffe. Follow me. I think there is something you should see." Halia nods as she follows her.

Halia moves a branch of a bush as she watches the scene below her. She sees a group of armed thugs shoving around and confronting what looks like a commoner. She slightly moves to get a better look at the guy. She instantly recognizes him as one of the guards that helped Cailan welcome her, Malcolm and Duncan to Ostagar. However, before she could do anything, one of the thugs ran his sword through the guard and left. She grabbed her bow and readied an arrow as she slowly made her to him. Once close she bandaged his wound as best as she could. He coughed as he opened his eyes. "Thank you. I… didn't expect the Bann's men to notice my escape so quickly. I tried to hide here in the woods, but there wasn't time. And now I'm a dead man. You were there at Ostagar. You know how things went. For me, it was either this, or die in some darkspawn's belly, or... or be hung as a deserter. You were there with the Grey Wardens. One of Duncan's new recruits. I was to guard the king. He was my friend, understand?" Halia nods. "Maker. All that time in the prison and I couldn't stop thinking about all they suffered that one dark night at Ostagar…"

"It's not your fault they died."

"I know. Even had Loghain's men not turned their backs on us, the darkspawn were too many. Even Cailan, for all his bravado, knew there would be no victory at Ostagar. The king entrusted me with the key to the royal arms chest. If anything were to happen to him, he said, it was vital I deliver it to the Wardens."

"Is this chest important?"

Alistair answers. "The royal arms chest- it's where Cailan kept his father's sword, the one he always said he'd slay the archdemon with."

The guard continues. "More than that, there was a secret compartment where he kept documents concerning his healings with Empress Celene and the Orlesians."

Halia looks at him. "Why didn't he just give the key to Duncan?"

"He didn't get the chance. Duncan was so busy with the new recruits and keeping Loghain at bay. Whatever his reason, it's me Cailan entrusted it to."

"Do you still have this key?"

The guard gives a short painful chuckle. "The Maker has a sense of humor, doesn't he? I suppose it's for the best, however-had I kept it, it would be in the Bann's hands by now."

Wynne looked a little irritated. "But you said Cailan entrusted it to you!"

"I was afraid. I thought I would lose it on the battlefield, so I stashed it in the camp. Please-it's probably still there. The key's behind a loose stone in the base of a statue. It's in the old mage camp."

Alistair pipes up. "You'll be taking me along, won't you? Call me sentimental, but I left behind some darkspawn that really deserve a sword through the middle."

Wynne adds, "The events at Ostagar still haunt my thoughts, my dear. If that is where we are headed, I would like to accompany you."

The guard continues. "It is vital that the king's documents do not fall into the wrong hands. As for Maric's sword, it is too powerful to be pawed at by those monsters. Same for the king's other arms and armor. And… and if you happen to find Cailan's body, see it off. He was our king. He shouldn't be left to rot amidst the darkspawn's filth." He exhales one final time as he collapses.

Halia nods and closes his eyes. "We will." She stands up and looks at her group. "I guess we will also be late getting to Redcliffe." The group then headed out to return to Ostagar.

Days later. Malcolm and his group followed Levi as they walk out of a series of tunnels. Levi stops as he says, "And… here we are. Soldier's Peak." They all look up at the fortress. "Maker's breath, look at the size of her. What a fortress." Levi turns and looks at Malcolm. "I told you the map would get us through tunnels."

Malcolm replies, while still looking at the Peak, "She's impressive, that's for certain."

"It's just teeming with history. Can't you feel it? So… I'll follow you about. From a distance. This place has the stench of death. I expect there's trouble up ahead." Malcolm leads the group up the steps and to the Peak.

As soon as they past the gate, there was like a flash of light and Malcolm could see soldiers run around with one figure giving orders. "Fall back. Fall back, already."

One soldier walks up to the leader. "Taking the Peak will not be easy, m'lord."

"I gave the Wardens one chance to die with honor. Instead they hole up like cowards. We follow the king's advice, then. Starve them out."

"But the Peak has months of supplies."

"Then we wait. When they are too weak to lift their weapons, we will send them to their final judgment."

There was another flash of light and the soldiers were gone. Levi looked spooked while Malcolm knew what happened, and Levi says, "Wh-what was that? I felt a bit woozy there. I'm not mad, am I? You saw it, too?"

"It was like a waking dream." Malcolm closes his eyes and uses his magic to reach out.

"How is that possible? This place truly is haunted."

Malcolm opens his eyes, his fears confirmed. "The Veil is thin here. The Circle Tower was that way, too."

Levi looks confused. "The Veil?"

"That's what separates us from the Fade and demons."

"D-demons? Thank Andraste you came, Warden. After you." Malcolm takes a few steps forward and skeletons rise from the ground and rushes the group.

Meanwhile. Halia let's her arrow fly and it ends up in the Hurlock's head. With the threat over, the group gathers together to let where they are settle in. Alistair breaks the silence. "Something about returning here makes me feel old, Wynne."

The older elf looks at him. "And what exactly are you implying, Alistair?"

"What? Nothing! I just thought…"

"You just thought I might be an expert at feeling old and could share some sage advice?"

"I just mean that I was a different person then. I believed him, you know? That it would be a glorious battle, that we'd win…"

"I did too. We were all a little bit younger the last time we were here."

"Well, not you. You've always been old."

"With lip like that, son, you'll be lucky if you live to be half my age." Halia smiles and shakes her head, then they moved out. They rounded a corner when a bolt of lightning just missed Halia and struck a nearby wall. She turned and saw darkspawn run towards them.

Back at Soldier's Peak. With the skeleton threat over, the group enter the keep and are greeted with another vision. This time it's about the Wardens. A mage is talking with the leader, who Malcolm assumes to be Sophia Dryden. "The men's morale is low. My spells are of no use in this matter, Commander."

"There is more to leading men than sorcery, Avernus. I will remind them that they're Wardens." She walks away from Avernus, and towards the center of the room. "Men, I won't lie to you. The situation is grim." She continues as the Wardens gather around her. "Our forces outnumbered. Our bellies empty. And our hearts are sagging. But we are Wardens. Darkspawn flee when they hear our horns. Archdemons die when they taste our blades. So are we to bend knee to a mere human despot? No! I, for one, will never give up. I, for one, will never surrender just to dance on Arland's gallows. So I propose here and now, in these hallowed halls where generations of our brethren stood vigil against darkspawn and evil… That we send a message to that fat bastard. In this sacred place, proud men, strong men, stood defiant. And would rather die than submit to tyranny!" As the vision fades, the rest of the Wardens cheer loudly.

Then Levi turned to Malcolm. "So brave, even when starving. And my great-great-grandmother stood with them."

"King Arland was a tyrant?"

"Not much is known of King Arland. The war of succession that followed his death, now that was a piece of work. Lasted nearly a decade, and almost burned Denerim and the palace to the ground. Loads of history was lost. But maybe there're answers to that inside. But I've gabbed enough. Lead on, my friend." They fought their way through demons and more skeletons until they reached a big room that is teeming with magic and another vision.

In it is the Wardens fighting Arland's men. Sophia rallies her men. "Make them pay for every inch, men!" A soldier rushed her, but she quickly killed him. "Hold the flank!" She turns her head. "Avernus, we need you."

Avernus concentrates as he says, "Nelatep obresooth sythan net bekon!" and a rage demon appears and attacks the soldiers.

"More, Avernus-whatever it takes!"

He concentrates again. "Kaelee ai benfotus victus!" and a sloth demon appears.

"Press them, press them now." The rage demon grabs one of the Warden mages and throws her into the wall, killing her.

Then the sloth demon then kills a Warden, while Avernus yells at it, "No! I command you, fight the king's men!"

The demon turns to him. "Fool. So much death, suffering, and, oh yes… blood. The Veil is torn now. Your soul is mine, Avernus."

Avernus starts backing away. "Acolytes… Retreat now. The battle is lost."

As he and other mages run up the stairs, Sophia yells at him. "Avernus!" The vision ends, and the group fights off demons.

At Ostagar. Halia and the group reach the middle of the bridge, and there was the body of Cailan, strung up like a piece of meat, on a weird darkspawn construct of some sort. Halia bows her head at the sight but doesn't have time for anything else as a fireball lands a few yards away. She turns and sees a genlock emissary, who resurrects nearby corpses and skeletons then runs.

Back at Soldier's Peak. Malcolm cuts one of the abomination's arm off then slashes the leg on the same side. The abomination then kneels, and Malcolm thrusts his sword through the creature's chest killing it. As he pulls his sword out, Levi comes up to him. "The Warden's summoned demons. I can't believe it. And my grandmother… She knew."

"Grey Wardens don't forbid blood magic. Anything it takes to win."

"I believed my family was better than that. But answers may lay up ahead." They go into the next room and encounter a magical barrier over one of the two doors. With no other choice, they head through the other door and encounter a lone figure.

As Malcolm walk up, the figure turns to face the group while saying, "Step no further-" Then Goliath growled and stared at the possessed Sophia Dryden. "Get this annoyance away from me. This one would speak with you."

Levi looks shocked. "G-grandmother?"

The demon continues, "You have slain many of the demon ilk to get here. This one would propose a deal."

Malcolm takes a good look at the possessed body. "Is anything of the real Sophia left inside you?"

"This one has tasted her memories, seen her thoughts and hidden places. But she is food for this one, no more, no less."

"And why should I trust a demon?"

"What is one woman-child compared to your might? Strike me down if my terms offend. A fool this one would be to betray a Warden."

"There's no way I'd make a deal with you."

"Then you are a fool!" The demon pulls out its sword and shield and jumps over the table at Malcolm. He got his shield up just in time to block the downward strike. Malcolm pushed the demon off and takes a few steps back. The demon rushes him, and Malcolm waits until the last possible second to bring up his shield, which the demon runs into and Malcolm thrusts his sword into the demon's head.

Then the group walk out of the room and through the door that had the barrier blocking it. They cross the bridge and into the tower. Inside the room is a book and a vial on top of a table. Malcolm reads the book which tells him about the progress Avernus made with unlocking the power of the darkspawn taint. He grabs the vial and looks at it. He takes the cork out and drinks it. He immediately drops it and hunches over in pain, as the pain subsides he can feel the new power that has been unlocked. They then go through the doors and into the main room. As they walk to the other side, they heard a voice, "I hear you… Don't disrupt my concentration." Then an old man in the Warden mage armor walked down a set of stairs to a platform. "Even now the demons seek to replenish their numbers. Are you to thank for this welcomed but temporary imbalance?"

Malcolm's grip on his sword tightens in case of a fight. "How do I know you're not possessed?"

The old mage chuckles a little. "You've met dear old Sophia, have you? My body is sustained from a similar source, but my mind and my volition are intact. Why are you here? What is your intent?"

"I'm here to recover the Grey Wardens' base."

"An admirable goal. But in order to achieve this, the demons must be cut off forever."

"I want some answers first."

"To what questions, I wonder? Ask."

"What was the purpose of your experiments?"

"To stop the demonic tide. To correct the miscalculations of the past. Blood magic comes from demons. They could counter every bit of lore I knew. But the darkspawn taint. That is alien to them. And it has power. The wardens use it merely to sense darkspawn. A triviality. My research has discovered so much more-hinted at even greater heights. This knowledge could not only save Soldier's Peak-with it, the Wardens could grow even more powerful!"

"Sophia's great-grandson brought me here." Malcolm turns his head. "Levi, go ahead."

Levi takes a step forward. "Master mage, uh, ser. My family name has been worth less than dirt for over a century. Do you have any proof that Sophia was a hero?"

"The boy who braved the mists. So you heeded my call." He laughs. "And you are a Dryden? The cosmos has a sense of humor."

Malcolm looks at the mage. "Just answer the question."

"Your great-great-grandmother was the best of us. Brave, charismatic, fiery. Utterly devoted to the fight. But still we lost. We fought against a tyrant, you know? So full of vigor, then. So blind to consequence. But proof? There's none to be had."

Malcolm looks at Levi. "I'm sorry."

"I… I had hoped. But thank you, Warden."

Malcolm looks at Avernus. "The time for questions is over."

"So be it. My only request: If justice or vengeance drive you, stay your hand until the demons are dealt with. We must go to the great hall. There I will repair the damage I caused so long ago. Let's go." Malcolm nods and follows the mage back to the great hall.

At Ostagar. Halia and the group walk onto the old battlefield and looked around for the Genlock that kept running away from them. Halia spots it and starts walking towards it, just when magic left the Genlock and hit an Ogre corpse that had a sword and dagger impaled into it. Soon, the layer of snow that has gathered on it started to move and the group watched as the Ogre rose up and roared. Halia grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow just as Alistair tackled her, dodging an arm swipe. Alistair quickly got off her and went to distract the Ogre as Halia rolled away and grabbed an arrow and nocked it. She aimed at the Genlock and fired. The arrow missed, and she tried again, this time the Genlock blocked it with his staff. She reached up for another arrow and grabbed her last one. She nocked it and took deep breathes as she pulled the string back farther than she ever pulled. Time seemed to slow down as she let the arrow fly, and it went straight through the head. She looked over at the rest of the group just in time to see Alistair pull his sword out of the Ogre's neck then plunged it through its head and twisted. He pulled his sword out and jumped off the corpse, as Halia went over to the Genlock and grabbed the last piece of Cailan's armor, the helmet. Halia walked back to the group to see Alistair pull out the sword and dagger from the corpse and she knew those belonged to Duncan. He looks over at Halia and sees the helmet. "There it is, the last of them."

Wynne rubs her face. "It has been a long day. By the lines around your eyes, I dare say you look as old as me."

"And if I may say so, m'lady, you appear to be getting younger by the day."

"Be careful who you flirt with, young man. When you wake up beside me tomorrow morning, I'll be back to reminding you of your grandmother."

Alistair looks confused and a bit frightened. "Beside you?"

"You heard what I said. It would not be the first time I woke to a younger man in my bed."

"Are all women this evil and conniving when they grow old?"

Wynne chuckles. "Just me, my dear. Just me." Halia smiles as she leads them back to the tunnel. About an hour later. The group stand in front of the body of Cailan looking at him. "Alistair, are you all right?"

"Ugh. They've left him here to rot. We need to do something."

Halia speaks up. "He is of royal blood and deserves a pyre."

"He was a good man who hoped too much and died too young. He deserves what little honor we can afford to grant him."

Back at Soldier's Peak. Avernus walks up to Malcolm. "It's over. The Veil is strong now. Stronger, at least. So what of me? Will you leave me to experiment in peace?"

"Experiment away. If it bears any fruit, I want to know."

"I feel I am close to a breakthrough. And now I can dedicate all of my time to research. I will share anything I learn with the Wardens and with you."

As Avernus leaves, Levi walks up to Malcolm. "You've done it, Warden, Soldier's Peak is safe again. That old geezer Avernus deserves the gallows, if you ask me, but… people will do queer things to survive. But there was no proof to redeem my family."

"The past won't offer redemption. Try the future instead."

"For so long, I was focused on the past. On answers. But I think I should've been better off had I stayed at home. You've got a whole fortress now. I suppose I should start plying my trade again."

"Any chance I could convince you to stay on?"

"You know I'm no good in a fight. But I'm a fair trader, if I do say so myself. My cousins have been looking for a safe place to store trade goods. And the Peak will do nicely. Whatever the Drydens have to offer are yours, for a sizable discount. Thank you, Warden."

Malcolm holds his hand out and Levi takes it. "Anytime."

The group then left the Peak and made camp.

Near Ostagar. Halia and the group set up camp and just relaxed, as best they can. They had just killed Flemeth as a favor for Morrigan, who had learned how Flemeth has lived for so long, after the gave Cailan a pyre. Alistair came up to Halia and thanked her for taking the time, and decided to let her use Duncan's weapons, while he uses his father's sword.

Hey guys. Thank you for being patient. Unfortunately, I don't have my laptop back. I do have a new one. Ok so, I want your honest opinion. You can PM me or leave a review. So, do you think I should change the rating to M and add in some lemon, or not. Again, I want your honest opinion, PM me or leave a review. If this chapter seems a little worse than the last few chapters, it's because it's been over a month since I last attempted to write a chapter, due to my laptop bein stolen.