The castle was quiet, too quiet. That was until they ran into those creatures Isolde was talking about. The creatures were grotesque and smelled of death. Ezra could feel himself grow weak when he neared them. Nonetheless he still unsheathed his blades and ran towards the creatures.
The creatures slashed at Ezra who dodged their attacks quickly and slashed back. Morrigan and Leliana shot arrows and spells from a distance. Sten swung his sword over and over while Alistair did the same. Soon enough the creatures fell dead and began to wither away until there was nothing more than ash on the ground.
"What were those things?" Ezra asked wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Those were Shades," Morrigan asnwered.
"What?"
"Shades. I have only seen them once before. Mother says they are the true forms of demons. Though books I've read have said they are the souls of the dead who have come back from the fade and into our world."
"Wow, I never knew a savage like you could read," Alistair said with a smirk.
"Its okay yo be jealous of my ability to read Alistair, I know you can't" she retorted back. Before the two could argue any further Sten stepped between them which seemed to shut them up. Ezra made a mental note to thank Sten later.
The party ventured deeper into the castle and so far the only things that were moving were the corpses. At least there weren't any more of those shades, those were a little stronger than corpses.
"There is no one left alive," Leliana said solemnly. She was right any people they found had been dead for a couple days.
The servants quarters seemed to be empty until the last room. Ezra swung open the door and inside was a young woman cowering in the corner.
"Please don't hurt me!" she cried.
"Calm down. We're not going to hurt you," Morrigan said. While it was supposed to be a nice reassurance, coming from her it sounded like a command.
"I...I'm sorry; I'm so frightened! These monsters are everywhere!"
"It's alright, you're safe now. Just breathe," Leliana told her taking the woman's hand.
"My...my name's Valena, the arlessa's maid. Is she... all right? What happened to everyone?"
"Valena? The smith's daughter?" Ezra asked his ears perking up.
"You know my father? I want to go back to the village! Is there a way out of here?"
"There is a tunnel leading out in the dungeon."
"B-but the monsters..."
"We've killed them all. It's safe for you," Ezra told her.
"I'll find my way. I can run fast and I know the castle. Thank you!" Valena said before she ran out of the room and away to the village.
"Well that's good news, at least one person is alive," Alistair said. "Hopefully the arl is too."
The party cleared the rest of the castle before entering the cellar. Luckily there were no corpses down there and the party was able to pass through to the gardens. They were so close to the reaching the main hall were Teagan would hopefully be but, before they could ascend the castle stairs more demons showed up.
Not only were there corpses, there was also a revenant. The revenant was stronger than the shades from earlier and required the party to attack it from all angles. Alistair stunning it momentarily with a shield bash followed by blows from Sten and Ezra. Leliana kept the corpses at bay with her arrows and Morrigan used her magic to burn corpses that got too close. Alador acted as close range defense for Leliana and Morrigan. With their combined efforts the party was able to kill the demons and enter the main hall.
Inside the hall Bann Teagan was dancing a very silly dance while a young boy with red hair cheered and clapped. Isolde stood next to the boy with a sad expression across her face. Guards were standing on either side of the hall. The party cautiously approached the strange scene.
"So these are our visitors? The ones you told me about, Mother?" the boy asked with a voice not of a boy but of another being.
"Y-yes, Connor," Lady Isolde said her voice shaking. So this is Connor Ezra thought.
"And this is the one who defeated my soldiers? The ones I sent to reclaim my village?" Connor asked.
"Yes."
"And now its staring at me! What is it, Mother? I can't see it well enough."
"This is an elf, Connor. You... you've seen elves, before. We have them here in the castle..." Isolde sounded terrified. She could barely speak without her voice wavering.
"Oh, I remember! I had their ears cut off and fed to the dogs! The dogs chewed for hours!" Ezra winced at the thought and his ear flattened slightly. "Shall I send it to the kennels, Mother?" Connor laughed at the thought.
"C-Connor, I beg you, don't hurt anyone!" his mother pleaded. Connor stumbled and put a hand to his head.
"M-Mother? What...what's happening? Where am I?" he asked. Now he sounded like a child, not a demon. He also looked scared like a child.
"Oh, thank the Maker! Connor! Connor, can you hear me?" Isolde asked reaching a hand out to her son. He pulled away.
"Get away from me, fool woman! You are beginning to bore me," he sneered.
"Grey Warden... please don't hurt my son! He's not responsible for what he does."
"So he is the evil force you spoke of?" Ezra asked pointing to the boy.
"No, don't say that!" Isolde cried. "Connor didn't mean to do this! It was that mage, the one who poisoned Eamon- he started all this! He summoned this demon! Connor was just trying to help his father!"
"It was a fair deal!" Connor said. "Father is alive, just as I wanted. Now it's my turn to sit on the throne and send out armies to conquer the world! Nobody tells me what to do anymore!"
"Nobody tells him what to do! Nobody! Ha-ha!" Teagan laughed.
"Quiet, uncle. I warned you what would happen if you kept shouting, didn't I? Yes, I did." Connor turned to face the party once more. "But lets keep things civil. This man will have the audience he seeks. Tell us..what have you come here for?"
"I came to help, in any way I can," Ezra said.
"To help me? To help Father? To help yourself? Which?"
"To help the arl and anyone else that is in danger here."
"So you're a concerned well-wisher. Why didn't you say that in the first place? All this sneaking around and killing is so unnecessary!"Connor shook his head and grinned. "But Father is so very ill. We really shouldn't disturb him. Isn't that right, Mother?"
"I... I don't think...-"
"Of course you don't. Ever since you sent the knights away, you do nothing but deprive me of my fun. Frankly, its getting dull. I crave excitement! And action! This man spoiled my sport by saving that stupid village, and not he'll repay me!"
Connor ran off and Teagan stood up from his seat on the ground. Teagan and the guards charged towards Ezra and his party. The party readied their weapons quickly and met the men mid way.
"Don't kill them! Connor must have taken over their minds. We need to be careful!" Ezra yelled has he kicked on the guard to the ground.
The party knocked most of the guards unconscious. Now all that was left was Teagan, who was wearing less armor than the guards. Alistair shield bashed him and then Ezra swept his legs out from under him sending the man to the ground.
"Teagan! Teagan, are you all right?!" Isolde exclaimed running to Teagan's side.
"I am... better now, I think. My mind is my own again," he said standing.
"Blessed Andraste! I would have never forgiven myself had you died, not after I brought you here." Isolde shook her head. "Please! Connor's not responsible for this! There must be some way we can save him!"
"You knew about this all along," Ezra said. "That explains why you were so secretive at the village."
"I...yes. I didn't tell you because I believed we could help him. I still do."
"I do not know if we can save him," Teagan said. "Demons do not listen to reason."
"He is not always the demons you saw. Connor is still inside him, and sometimes he breaks through. Please, I just want to protect him!"
"Isn't that what started this? You hired a mage to teach Connor in secret...to protect him." Teagan clearly did not approve of Isolde's parenting approach.
"If they discovered Connor had magic, then they'd take him away! I thought if he learned just enough to hide it, then..."
"That doesn't matter now. What matter now is figuring out our options," Ezra said stopping an argument from possibly breaking out.
"I wouldn't normally suggest slaying a child,but... he's an abomination. I'm not sure there's any choice." Alistair said.
"We can't kill a young boy, demon or no demon. Please don't say we're considering that!" Leliana fretted.
"Connor is my nephew, but..." Teagan paused taking in a sharp breath. "He is also possessed by a demon. Death would be...merciful."
"No! What...what about the mage? He could know something of this demon! If he still lives, we could speak to him!" Isolde urged the party and Teagan.
"He still lives. He is down in the dungeon," Ezra told her.
"Then we should bring him here immediately. I...I do not know how much we can trust him, but we must find out what he knows. Teagan, could you find him?"
"I...will try, though if he resists I will not hesitate to kill him. I will return shortly."
Teagan left and came back shortly with Jowan.
"You're lucky yo be alive, Jowan, after all you've done," Isolde sneered at the mage.
"I didn't summon any demon, Lady Isolde. But I did poison the arl...and that started all this. I'm ...willing to help, if you'll let me," Jowan said. "The demon in Connor needs to be destroyed. Killing Connor is... the easiest way to do that, certainly..."
"But?" Ezra asked.
"There is another way," Jowan said. "A mage could confront the demon in the Fade, without hurting Connor himself."
"What do you mean? Is the demon not within Connor?" Teagan asked.
"Not physically. The demon approached Connor in the Fade while he dreamt, and controls him from there. We can use the connection between them to find the demon."
"You can enter the Fade, then? And kill the demon without hurting my boy?" For the first time since Ezra had met her, Isolde's voice held hope.
"No, but I can enable another mage to do so. It normally require lyrium and several mages, but I have...blood magic."
"No, blood magic is forbidden," Alistair said.
"If there's a way, I must know it. Please! Tell us what you mean, Jowan," Isolde said.
"Lyrium provided the power for the ritual. But I can take that power from someone's life energy. This ritual requires a lot of it, however. All of it, in fact..."
"So...someone must dies? Someone must be sacrificed?" Teagan asked.
"Yes, and then we send another mage into the Face. I can't enter because I'm doing the ritual. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything it's not much of an option..."Jowan said.
"Is there no other way to do that?" Leliana asked.
"The power has to come from somewhere, and that means either lyrium or...blood," Jowan told them.
"Then let it be my blood. I will be the sacrifice,"Isolde said.
"What? Isolde are you mad?! Eamon would never allow this!" Teagan said.
"Either someone kills my son to destroy that thing inside him or I give my life so my son can live. To me, the answer is clear."
"No!" Ezra shouted. "We don't trade one life for another! Jowan you said there was another way involving lyrium? Can we do that?"
"You'd need lyrium and more mages from the Circle of Magi- if they would even do it,"Alistair said.
"The Circle isn't far from here right?"
"That is an excellent point. One of the treaties is also for the Circle of Magi, after all," Morrigan commented.
"The tower is about a day's journey across the lake. You could attempt to get the mages' help," Teagan said.
"But what will happen here? Connor will not remain passive forever!" Isolde said worried.
"We have to take that chance," Ezra told her.
Teagan would keep Jowan at the castle with them to watch over Connor. Sten and Alador would stay at the castle as well to help if things should go wrong. The rest of the party would venture across the lake and get help from the Circle of Magi. With the plan settled on everyone went their separate ways hoping everything would work out.