No one spoke to her again that day and there was little interaction the next few days. Fedir had to take care of things with his father elsewhere and Ilina was too busy with Maryska, but Claire made sure the shaman knew she was there just in case. Lying on the bed she had been given, Claire tried to will herself to sleep, but she was terrified of the nightmares that awaited her. The voices would start whispering that they could fix all her problems, the demons would claw at her, and she would be lost in the darkness. It didn't take long for exhaustion to win the fight and she fell into a troubled sleep.
She woke up, finding herself in a strange stone building, nothing like what the Chasind had, and she was wearing a plain Ferelden styled dress. The walls were cold and she felt like they were trying to close in around her, so she got up and started walking, hoping she could find out where she was. A strange noise caught her attention and she tried to make out what it could be. Something was clanking around, as if a person was wearing heavy plate mail, and the footsteps sounded like they were getting closer. Wondering if the person could help, she looked around for the hallway they must be in. She peeked around the corner and saw a Templar coming towards her, not something she expected, but had no reason to fear.
"Excuse me." She called out. The Templar turned towards her, his head concealed by his helmet.
He quickly pulled out a sword and pointed it at her, yelling, "Stop, apostate!"
"I'm not a mage!" She cried, but he still charged after her, so she ran as fast as she could back down the hall, his loud thundering footsteps echoing behind her. She wasn't a mage, how could she be? Why would he be chasing her? She tripped and fell, landing hard on her shoulder, sending shooting pain through her body. She gasped and tried to get up, but she felt the blade of the Templar's sword bite into her side.
"Maleficar, you will not be suffered to live!" The Templar shouted as he pulled the sword out. The feeling of the blade leaving her body made her retch, and through her tears and pain, she struggled to get up, but the blade found her shoulder, making her scream. The Templar laughed, enjoying his torture, and pulled the blade out twisting it slightly as he did so. He stepped on her back and grabbed her by the hair, lifting her head up.
"How dare you think you can live outside the Circle." He hissed. "If I had my way, all mages would be put to the torch at birth, but instead, I must resign myself to watching you all. You claim the tower is a prison, but it is a freedom! It is a luxury!" He smashed her head into the stone floor, her vision exploding in fireworks as she lay there, stunned. Let death claim me... She thought. Did I not just seek it? Why should I deny its sweet embrace now? She closed her eyes, feeling the last bit of tears escape, and waited for the final blow. But instead, she felt a strange tugging at her back, as if the Templar was undoing the bindings on the dress...
"There are no rules saying we cannot at least enjoy our charges." The Templar laughed, sending chills down her spine. If she was a mage, where was her magic? She needed to destroy him! Panic welled up inside her as she started struggling again, his weight preventing her from moving far.
"No!" She yelled. "No! I won't let you!" She needed to find her magic, she needed to find her power, and she needed to escape. In her panic, she grabbed something with her mind, latching onto some strange energy, and flung it towards the Templar with everything she had. Her world exploded in pain, her body wracked with it, there was nothing else but the agony, her vision seeing nothing but white.
"Is she going to be all right?" Fedir asked, rubbing his arm where Ilina had grabbed him. The shaman was doing something to the girl, but he couldn't tell what, nor did he really know what had happened. He had been woken up by Claire yelling and he thought someone had gotten in and was trying to do something to her, but it turned out to be just a nightmare. As he straddled her, shaking her and trying to wake her up, Ilina rushed in, her black eyes ablaze, and yanked him off the girl before throwing some sort of shield up. Even he could feel the explosion, despite the shield, and could only wonder what would have happened had Ilina not been there.
"Her magic has awoken." Ilina said. "She was trapped in a dream and unleashed a burst of Fade energy that I was able to counteract. It... doesn't feel the same as our magic, but I cannot place it. For everyone's sake, I will have to move her to my place until she can learn to control her powers."
"So she is a mage." Fedir said. "And that's why she was left in the Wilds to die like my father guessed? Who could be so cruel to one of their own?"
"In her culture, magic is feared." Ilina said. "They do not know better, though there are things about her that make me wonder... I think even the Fereldens would prefer to kill this one."
Fedir scoffed. "I will never understand why you felt the need to study them, shaman." He said. "Did you not say they kill mage children all the time anyway?"
"The Templars prefer to take mages to the tower, where they will be kept safe." Ilina said. "However, they do not tolerate strange magics, such as blood magic, or the shapeshifters like the Witch of the Wilds."
"Which one is Claire?"
"That, I cannot tell you." Ilina said. "We must be careful, lest she become an abomination. I fear if we do not stop it before it becomes complete, we will all die."
The sun was shining bright, indicating that Claire had more than overslept, so she jerked up and looked around. She didn't recognize the room and Fedir was asleep in a chair by her side, his hunting knife in his hand. Her hand flew up to her shoulder, feeling a ghost of the pain from her dream, and wondered what had happened. It hadn't felt like a dream, it had felt far too real, and she was having a hard time believing it hadn't happened.
Feeling nervous, she spoke quietly. "Fedir..." She said. He stirred and looked at her, blinking in surprise.
"You're awake." He said. "You didn't wake up at all yesterday... you had us all worried."
"I dreamed I was in a strange stone building..." Claire said. "I was being chased by a Templar... he kept saying I was a mage. But I'm not a mage! I've never done magic in my life!" The look Fedir gave her was enough to silence her.
"You are a mage, one that worries Ilina." He said, putting his knife away. "You're too dangerous to have around Mother right now. You almost killed me." Claire felt a knot form in her throat.
Claire put her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know I had magic... I'm sorry... Why didn't you kill me?"
He narrowed his eyes. "We don't outright kill those with magical abilities. If you had become an abomination, then I would have, but Ilina says she can train you and I trust her. They've known you've had the potential since you first arrived. If they had deemed you a threat, they wouldn't have let you stay."
"This is a lot to take in..." She said. "I never thought..."
"I'll let Ilina explain everything to you." Fedir said, getting up. "Mother is well enough now that I can watch her until you're able to control your magic better."
"I hope I don't hurt anyone else." She said.
"Whatever they taught you about magic where you're from, forget it." He snapped. "If you fear your gift, you will hurt others. It is not a curse, it is not something to be feared!" She looked up at him, startled.
"Th-thank you." She said. "It's not easy, but I understand and I won't forget what you said."
"Good!" He smiled. "Then I'll go get Ilina."
For the next few weeks, Claire worked on learning how to control her magic, while still helping Ilina and Maryska out. She had a long ways to go before she would be good enough to heal people, but Ilina had faith in her. The nightmares kept happening, though, and Claire couldn't figure out how to make them stop, and neither could Ilina. After a month had passed, Maryska had her baby, a little girl with a head full of black hair, and Claire figured she would never get to go back to their house to stay.
It was the first month of the new year, 9:21 Dragon, and Ilina had given up on figuring out Claire's nightmares.
"There is one nearby who may be able to help you." Ilina said as Claire was mixing up some potions.
"Really?" Claire asked, looking at her mentor.
"Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds." Ilina said quietly. "It is said she has lived for a long time, and if anyone knows how to help you, it would be her." Claire shuddered. She knew exactly who Flemeth was, and was worried about what the Witch might do to her.
"Why would she help me?" Claire asked.
"She may not, but what choice do you have?" Ilina shrugged. "Fedir has offered to take you, though he won't go near her hut. It's far too dangerous for him."
"Yes... she does things to Chasind men..." Claire murmured. "I don't know how safe I'll be, but you're right, I have little choice. I cannot stay here and endanger you all."
"Fedir said he'll take you tomorrow morning, so you can at least say your goodbyes."
"You don't think I'll be coming back?" She asked, feeling her depression coming back. She didn't want to leave, not when everything was finally going well for her.
"It is a possibility..." Ilina said, not looking at Claire.
"But unlikely." Claire sighed. She was almost fourteen, if her calculations were correct, and was moving on to her fourth caretaker. Or fifth, depending...
Fedir was silent on their trip to Flemeth's hut, something that wasn't easy to find. Claire couldn't blame him, though, considering the potential danger he was in just with getting close to Flemeth's. The closer they got, the more it felt like they were being watched, and Claire looked up to see a raven watching them intently.
"I think Morrigan found us." Claire said. The raven cocked its head curiously and flew off.
"Morrigan?" Fedir asked.
"One of Flemeth's daughters." Claire said. "She's just a few years younger than me, I think."
"And how do you know this?" Fedir asked suspiciously. Claire grimaced, wishing she had kept her mouth shut.
"Oh, maybe it was just a dream then." She said, feeling stupid. "I swear it felt so real... I'm having a harder time telling dream from reality."
"Mmhmm." Fedir looked at her sideways, but didn't say anything else and the silence during the rest of the walk seemed so oppressive that Claire was thankful when they found the small plume of smoke rising out of the windmill's hut.
"This must be it." Fedir said, quietly. "I'll leave you to it then. Take care." He vanished into the underbrush and she moved forward towards the hut. She saw the raven sitting in a tree, still watching her carefully.
"Hello." Claire called. "I'm looking for the one they call Flemeth." The raven flapped while cawing, then flew off, disappearing into the woods.
"And why do you seek her?" An old crackly voice came from behind Claire. Feeling the hair stand up on the back of her neck, Claire turned around and came face to face with the witch. She didn't look much different than from the first game, though Claire imagined she could look like the version in the second and third games as well.
"I-I beg your pardon, but the shaman who was teaching me magic said that she can no longer help me..." Claire said. "She said I'm different, but we don't know how."
"And where is the boy who was with you?" Flemeth asked.
"He left." Claire said, feeling her anxiety rising.
"Did he now..." Flemeth smiled and looked over into the bushes. "You can come out now." She waved her hand and Claire could feel energy flowing through the air as Fedir slowly walked out of the bushes.
"Please leave him alone." Claire said. "Let him go back home." She could see fear in Fedir's black eyes and amusement in Flemeth's.
"You would deny an old woman her fun?"
"You can have fun with me instead." Claire said. Flemeth raised an eyebrow.
"Do you know how often it is that a Chasind man comes wandering into my clearing?" She asked. "Not nearly often enough." Claire could feel herself starting to really panic as Flemeth brought Fedir closer. When he got up to the witch, she caressed his face gently, making him flinch away.
"Such young blood." Flemeth said, smiling at Claire. Claire had a roaring in her ears and her vision was starting to go red as she tried to control herself.
"Don't touch him!" She yelled. She clutched her head, crying out in pain and doubled over, falling to the ground as she felt a burst of Fade energy leave her, aimed at Flemeth. Fedir was tossed to the side as the witch blocked.
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Flemeth laughed. She helped the young man up. "You may go now. You have served your purpose." He quickly ran away. Claire blinked back tears as she tried to stand up, her head killing her.
"Wha-"
"I was merely curious to know where you stand on your training." Flemeth said. "And you showed me, you have a long ways to go. You also showed me something else... something that you know, but do not realize. Yes, I will help you, but not for long. You must go to the Tevinter Imperium, I think. They are the only ones who will be able to help someone with your abilities."
"But you're..." Claire clamped her mouth shut, afraid she was going to say too much.
"I'm what?" Flemeth asked.
"You... you've been around for ages, you have the... ability to become a dragon... and the things you've seen, and can do..."
"Have you been listening to those tales the Chasind tell?" Flemeth asked, sounding annoyed.
"I'm sorry..." Claire said, hanging her head. "I'll not intrude on your hospitality longer than you wish."