Salem tried to rest her eyes but she slept rather fitfully. She'd been walking all last night however; Duncan implored her to try to rest even for a little while. The cold temperature and make-shift bed she'd made out of what was lying around didn't much bother her, her hold had always made due with what they had. It was the memories, she decided. It seemed every time she closed her eyes images of the fall of Red Lion Hold flashed in her mind. She raised herself up to sit against a nearby tree and sighed. Will they ever go away?

She expected to hear her spirit answer her, but he remained silent. It set her on edge immediately. "Duncan?"

Still, no response. She sat upright, her adrenaline beginning to shoot through her. "Duncan!"

One second…two…did he finally leave her? Forever? Was she truly alone now?

"I'm here, child." He said finally. But something was wrong…he seemed distant somehow. "The darkspawn have broken through…I hadn't expected it so quickly…"

Salem was on her feet immediately. She doused her fire and grabbed her things quickly. She forced her tired legs to carry her as fast as she could possibly manage.

"Faster, child! You must hurry!"

She wasn't sure she had it in her. She was already so tired. Why was it her responsibility to save these pampered lowlanders anyway? They were the ones that forced her people out of the wall to begin with. Perhaps they were to blame for the destruction of her home…how long had she been running already? And for what?

It was growing more and more apparent that the darkspawn were in fact nearby. These new warden senses were hard to read. It was like trying to make out faint whispers in a crowd. It was always so quiet. Duncan told her it should be almost instinctual. He theorized that it was perhaps her connection to him that dampened her sensitivity. She worried that it would cause him to leave soon. She hadn't truly regretted her actions before that point. But the possible threat of being left alone was more terrifying than facing a hundred darkspawn.

Salem stopped in her tracks. The dense trees obscured much of the surrounding area but in the distance, she could just barely make out the concrete wall. She had never seen it herself but now that she has, she wasn't sure she would have been able to scale the thing if she wanted to…well, maybe, now that she looked at the trees around it but it would have been difficult. It was tall; the height of at least 5 avvar men if she were to guess. There were watchtowers periodically paced along the top. But as she looked upon them she didn't see anyone manning them…not a good sign for the lowlanders. The break in the wall was perhaps 50 yards to her east. The wall had seemingly crumbled to pieces. A few scattered darkspawn filed through the large opening, slowly traversing the rumble.

But as unsettling as that was, it wasn't what truly caught her attention. She had the sudden sense of feeling completely and totally alone…where was Duncan?

He understood her unspoken question, just as he usually did. But the response was nothing she wanted to hear. "I am leaving you now, child."

"What! No!" Salem spun around. The action caused the leaves to rustle loudly beneath her feet; her cloak nearly wrapped completely around her for a moment. She had to briefly struggle to get it untangled. Her eyes continued to search her surroundings. She needed to find him. She needed to make him understand. She wasn't ready yet.

"I've guided you as best as I could. But there is nothing more than I can teach you, Child. You must make your own path." His voice seemed even further now.

Tears formed in Salem's eyes. She hadn't even cried when the darkspawn rampaged through her Hold. But this was truly terrifying. If even her spirit leaves her, who would even want her around? "I don't…no, I can't do this without you!"

"You can and you will."

She knew that tone of voice. It was scolding, authoritative. It would be this way or no way. Salem's sadness began to turn to anger quickly. The sinking feeling of realization set in. There was nothing to say to fix this, nothing would make it better right now. She had to say the words to herself, if only to force herself to deal with it. "You're leaving me."

"This had to happen eventually, child."

"But why now?! This isn't fair! I've done everything you've ever asked!"

Whatever Duncan may have said next to her was drowned out in the next moment. Suddenly the noise—the voices, they were so loud. All the whispers instantly accumulating in a cacophony of distorted screams. It felt dark, evil, wrong. Salem recalled Duncan's previous remarks…his theory that her warden senses would elevate to normal without her being connected to him.

The realization hit her hard, nearly paralyzed her. But without Duncan dampening the voices, they nearly overwhelmed her. It reminded her of the sounds of her home being torn apart. The paralyzing feeling quickly degraded into anger. Frost formed from her fingertips to her forearms. Her eyes set on the few darkspawn she could see. A cold rage set over her.

If she were truly alone, then she had nothing left to lose.

"We're almost there!" Alistair shouted to the men staggering behind them. "We can make it!"

Dorian rolled his eyes. Fenris simply scowled deeper. Neither man was particularly impressed by this fool of a templar or his inane optimism. But they knew better than anyone that sticking to a group was a sound strategy. They'd seen enough during their exile to tell them that this city wouldn't be lasting much longer.

The templar darted around a corner, leaving Fenris and Dorian to pick up the pace to follow him. Just a few steps into their jog, there was an audible snap. Fenris cried out, suddenly falling to one knee and leaning against the adjacent building.

"Fasta vass." Dorian muttered as he stepped toward Fenris. He held out his hand, knowing that grabbing him without his permission is a very dangerous thing to attempt. "Come on, you're not dying on me."

"I'm fine!" Fenris staggered his weight on the wall until he stood. But the moment he put pressure on his bad leg again he nearly howled in pain.

"Don't be a bloody fool!"

Fenris simply glared at him. He attempted to maneuver forward by himself. But he was painfully slow and soon he wouldn't have the help of a structure to lean on. Dorian decided to test his luck. He grabbed onto Fenris's forearm and brought it up to his face.

"Do you see this? Hmm?" He scolded, motioning to the red ribbon fastened around his wrist. Fenris's angry expression seemed to soften a bit at the sight; Likely recalling the woman he got it from. "If you want to see her again, you have to let me help you." Looking over Fenris's shoulder, Dorian spotted some hurlocks shambling in the distance. They weren't coming this way and they hadn't seen them yet but it wouldn't be long.

He looked at Fenris again. He still stared at the ribbon. The poor fool was probably lost in his own thoughts, again. Dorian took a deep breath, the kind one does before attempting something dangerous. He locked onto Fenris's arm and slung it over his shoulder. "Rip my heart out later if you're so inclined." Fenris was clearly uncomfortable. But he didn't assault him so Dorian was calling that a small victory.

Dorian helped him hobble around the corner that templar had disappeared around. For a moment he thought they'd lost him. They didn't see him at first, but they did see a pair of genlocks creep their way down the nearby alley way. If Dorian and Fenris had been there just a second or two earlier, they'd likely be darkspawn kibble.

They sat there for a short moment, trying to figure their best course of action now. They started to turn to go the other direction but the blonde man popped his head out of another run-down building just a few yards away. He motioned to them wildly, seemingly telling them to silently hurry.

The two men shared an uncomfortably close look, and nodded to each other. With a little awkwardly coordinated teamwork, they were able to get into the doorway the templar ushered them into. Once they were inside, the templar pushed the door shut as quietly as he could. He put a finger to his lips, and pointed to a window on the other side of the large room. It appeared to be an old shop of some kind. There were racks with ruined, useless novelties collecting dust. A counter with a dusty glass display case sat at the far end in front of a doorway, which likely lead to some sort of back room.

The genlocks seemed to be circling the building now. Good thing they weren't smart enough or tall enough to look through the windows. The templar motioned for them to follow him to the back room. It was lined with empty shelves vaulted to the walls. But one wall had a bookshelf attached to it.

The ancient shopkeeper seemed to have been a paranoid sort. They'd constructed a shelter behind the bookshelf, which served as a way to hide the metallic vault door. The vault seemed fairly small though. The woman and child the man was carrying before were already inside, resting on a dusty but otherwise well-preserved couch. The far wall seemed to serve as…some sort of tech center? There were a number of old monitors displaying what appeared to be fuzzy images of the area surrounding the building.

"Come on," The templar whispered. "Get inside."

Dorian moved before Fenris did. It was more comfort than either of them had seen in far too long. While Fenris was skeptical, knowing that they didn't know enough about this new friend of theirs, Dorian seemed far too eager to trust some stranger's seemingly good intentions. As soon as they crossed the threshold, the templar began to pull the door shut. Despite his best efforts, the door squeaked loudly.

They all held their breath. Except for the child. He of course didn't understand the danger. But thankfully, his mother seemed to. The moment the boy began to speak, she snatched him up and covered his mouth.

The templar froze in place. He looked back at the tech wall. Whatever he saw seemed to panic him. He pulled on the door as hard as he could, despite the noise. The door wasn't very cooperative though. Despite his efforts, the templar couldn't move it very quickly.

"Kaffas!" Dorian shouted. He nearly threw Fenris off of him, sending him to the unforgiving metal floor like a bag of rocks. It did nothing to help his leg or his temperament. Dorian crossed the room quickly and latched onto the circular mechanism on the vault door. He shot an annoyed look towards the templar next to him. "Put your back into it, you bloody brute!"

Fenris sat upright, glaring at Dorian for a moment before something on the monitors caught his eye. In one of the fuzzy pictures, it showed the front door of the building. It appeared as if it was bowing under some tremendous amount of force. From the angle it was impossible to tell what was on the other side. But the other monitors showed the exterior of the building…no more genlocks were in the alleyway…the fifth and final monitor confirmed the chilling reality they face. They'd been spotted.

"Get that thing shut, now!" Fenris yelled at them.

Dorian didn't seem to have the spare energy to quip back at him. The damned stubborn door was still closing so slowly. Dorian and the templar were nearly shaking from the effort. Fenris tried futility to get to his feet but his busted leg prevented him from it. "Fenhedis!"

The front door suddenly shattered open. The triumphant grunts of the genlocks filled the building. The woman tossed her son down on the couch and sprinted towards the door. Fenris thought she meant to help them with the door, but instead she began to run her fingers in odd patterns over it.

"Solona?" The templar through strained grunts. "What are you doing?"

"Buying us time." She said simply. She tapped the door a final time and a magic rune glowed brightly for a fleeting moment before disappearing. The templar looked shocked. But the woman ignored him. She grabbed the final prong on the circular mechanism and started using her weight to help them pull.

The genlocks scurried around the main room for a moment, but they quickly pinpointed the noise and bolted for it. They barreled into the back room, bumbling into each other in the process. The door was nearly closed now. Just a little further and they could latch it.

The three of them pulled with all of their might but they still couldn't make it in time. The genlocks got to the door. One reached its fat, gray fingers around the edge but the moment it touched the metal, it was shocked in place. Unable to move, the paralyzed genlock effectively blocked the other from getting to the door as well. It gave the three of them just enough time to pull the door closed and latch it.

Once the spinning mechanism was locked in place, they all breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Dorian slumped against the nearest wall, his chest heaving with each heavy breath. "I must say, that was rather clever, miss."

The woman smiled politely as she gathered her frighten boy into her arms again. "Desperate times call for quick thinking."

The templar crossed the room silently, his eyes were fixed on the monitors. Whatever he was looking at did nothing for the shock he seemed to be experiencing. The woman seemed to notice and become very anxious suddenly.

Dorian looked at the situation and decided to ignore whatever drama was threatening to unfold. "Templar, I don't suppose you have any lyrium on you?"

The question seemed to snap the man out of whatever line of thought he was burying himself under. "What? Oh, um, no. I, um, I'd just gotten promoted actually. If today went well I would have gotten my first dose…"

Dorian chuckled darkly. "Well it's that just poetic?"

"What could you possibly need lyrium for?" Fenris asked wearily.

"Well, now that you mention it, I was going to attempt to heal your leg, you ungrateful ass."

Fenris chuckled a little, only to start coughing horribly. The templar pulled a plastic bottle of water from his backpack and offered it to him. "How did you get hurt?" He asked carefully.

"Did you somehow miss the flying sports car?" Fenris made sure only to take a small sip to calm the cough. No telling how long they'd have to bunker in here. He motioned weakly to his leg. "I felt something crack when we landed. I must have pushed too far. I'm certain its broken now."

"So…it wasn't—"

"The darkspawn? No. We've been fortunate."

Dorian cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, about that. We should thank you. We're in bad shape as it is, I doubt we would have made it out of the city on our own."

"Oh, you're welcome. You know, it's important to stick together and all that…oh, um, I'm Alistair, by the way. As of this morning a Knight-Lieutenant of the order, but somehow I don't think that's gonna stick." Alistair said with a nervous laugh.

The woman rose from the couch again and crossed the room to shake each of their hands. "My name is Solona Amell, this is my son, Ayden. We're glad to make your acquaintance."

Fenris reluctantly shook her hand, after a stern look from Dorian but seemingly refused to be any friendlier than that. Dorian rolled his eyes at him. "You'll have to forgive Fenris. We've been through quite an ordeal and his…social skills have suffered from it. I am Magister Dorian Pavus of Kirkwall, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"A magister?" Solona asked incredulously.

Alistair ran his hands over his face. "Oh, maker save me, they're gonna have my head."

"Don't soil your britches," Fenris griped. "The darkspawn can't get us in here."

"Maybe…but eventually we're gonna have to get out of here and I'm gonna have a very angry Knight-Captain looking for me…Maker, I hate that woman…Oh! And to top it off," He began laughed a little despite his anxious state. "I'm harboring an apostate and a magister!"

Solona flinched as if the words had physically hurt her. "Alistair, I'm sorry, I never meant for you to find out—"

Alistair's eyes narrowed at her. "You never what?! We were together for 3 years, Solona! How could you—?"

"Alistair, please!" She looked toward Ayden for a moment, who seemed to be more interested in the monitors than anything the grown ups were talking about. "I know you deserve an explanation…for a lot of things…but not in front of him, please?"

One look at Ayden and Alistair seemed to soften right up again. "You're right…I'm sorry."

"I promise you, we can talk about it later."

Alistair sighed defeatedly. He flopped himself down on the couch, sending the residual dust flying everywhere.

"Well," Fenris muttered. "That was awkward."

Solona raised an eyebrow at him. "You know what will be even more awkward? Having to carry a fully-grown man with a broken leg."

Dorian laughed heartily. "Oh, I like her."

Alistair shot a disapproving glare in Dorian's direction but quickly thought better of it and decided to try and guess how many threads made up the cushions on the couch. Maybe he should just scream again…

Solona knelt down beside Fenris but kept a respectful distance. "Can I take a look? Healing happens to be my specialty."

"No." He glared at her, as if she were just as likely to kill him as the darkspawn were.

Dorian scoffed. "Vishante kaffas. The woman is trying to help you."

"I don't need it."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, you do." She pointed to his leg, while still remaining about two feet away. "The bone is definitely broken. If you leave it untreated, it will likely heal, eventually. But it will take months. And there's a high probability that it will still remain next to useless to you. You won't be running any marathons. I could treat it without magic, if that's your concern. But I can't recommend that either. Given our current situation, we will likely need you on your feet as quickly as possible."

Fenris scowled at her now. It was clear he understood her reasoning, but equally clear he didn't much like it. He looked down at the ribbon on his wrist again. With a heavy sigh he spoke to her. "Will I be fit enough to fight?"

"That depends on how much you're willing to let me do. I'll need to rest of course. But I'm fairly skilled with healing magic if I do say so myself. Ideally, I'll have you fully repaired in a day or two."

Fenris seemed to consider it for a moment. He looked to Dorian, silently asking for his input. He shrugged. "Well, she has to do a better job then me. I couldn't heal a papercut if I tried." But still his friend seemed unsure. "If she were here, she'd want you to get better. No matter what that required."

"I know." He said simply. Whatever his true emotions were at the time, he seemed to be hiding them well enough. "Alright," He said as he looked up at Solona. "Do what you must."