Chapter 6. Family Matters

Circle Tower [Sura]

"No, no, this can't happen." Sura stood flabbergasted at what she was hearing.

"You must understand, the tower is no longer under our control. We have to protect the innocents of Ferelden. Unless the First Enchanter comes and says for himself otherwise, once word arrives back we will go through with the Right of Annulment."

"We will find the First Enchanter and stop this."

"You can try." The Templar Commander said with a hmph. "Let them through, but nobody comes back out of those doors unless the First Enchanter is with them."

"Are mage lives really worth this?" Sten spoke up. He didn't even try to hide his disdain for mages

Sura frowned at him. "Any life is worth it." She turned and headed past the doors they'd previously had locked off into the tower. Her companions followed her, and once they were all through the door was shut and locked behind them. They progressed through the corridor they'd just entered. Up ahead was two adults and several children.

They just left children here to die? How could they?

One of the mages, an older woman with white hair, was keeping up a barricade to the next room. The other mage, a young man not much older than Sura, was comforting the children.

The young man looked up to see them approaching. "You're not Templars, what are you doing here?"

"We've come to help stop this and save the First Enchanter." Sura noticed the young man before her had hair the same color as hers, except long and worn down to his shoulders, as well as eyes the same emerald green. "My name is Sura Amell, I'm a Grey Warden."

The man looked taken back. "Did you.. say Amell?"

"Yes, I did. Why do you ask?"

"My name is Maxwell Amell. Did you know a Revka Amell?"

Sura was stunned. This man knew her mother? "I only know she was my mother. I don't know anything about her personally."

"She was my mother. I'm.. I'm your brother. We need to be going though, and I want to come with you all."

Sura couldn't believe it. She'd never known her mother or father, never had any real family, but now.. now she did. She actually had a brother. She couldn't decide if she was more shocked or happy at this.

The woman named they learned to be named Wynne now spoke up. "I'll come along to help as well. I'm a spirit healer. As long as we're killing everything we come across on the way, the children should be fine here."

Sten and Zevran decided to stay behind with Dozer for safe measures. And also because Sten hated magic, and they'd likely be confronted with a lot of that. Wynne warned them of blood mages ahead.

"So what exactly happened?" Sura asked as they walked along.

Wynne was the first to answer. "Uldred had been pushing for an alliance with Loghain, but I had been there at Ostagar. I revealed Loghain's treachery to the Circle. One thing had led to another, and Uldred ended up attacking with a group of blood mages. He tried to summon a pride demon, but instead turned into an abomination. Now that demon is forcing other mages into such."

As they rounded a corner into the next room, Sura was hit in the chest with a strong force that threw her back into the wall behind her. She slid down the wall to where she now sit on the floor. Before she could gain her footing, a terrible pain seared through her. It was as if her blood was boiling within her. Blood mages. She suppressed a scream and struggled to get to her feet. Around her, all of her companions had spread out and already engaged in combat. They were outnumbered by the blood mages. It was no matter, her companions quickly evened the odds, and then turned it to their favor.

Sura notched an arrow in her bow taking aim at a mage on the other side of the room, when a man charged at her out of nowhere. He had a crazy look in his eyes and held a knife above his head. Sura ducked under his arm, reaching out a leg to trip him. He fell to the ground and Sura jumped on top of him, stabbing the arrow she previously had notched in her bow into his chest.

"Who says a bow and arrow is shit at close combat." She mumbled to herself.

Sura looked around and saw Maxwell nearby on the ground with one of the blood mages towering over him. The mage kneeled beside him and stabbed a knife into his gut. "Max! No!" Sura yelled as she started sprinting toward them. The blood mage looked up at her into her eyes which were now glowing. Anger and fear for her brother pumped through her veins. Using the blood of Maxwell to make him stronger, the blood mage shot a bolt of lightning at Sura. Sura could feel the heat in her abdomen where the lightning struck her. She was thrown back several feet.

Meanwhile Leliana had snuck up behind the blood mage and slit his throat. Wynne quickly got to tending to Maxwell and his wound. Sura glanced down to her own wound. A hole had been burned through her armor and clothes. The skin of her stomach underneath had been horribly burned, looking almost black and charred. She winced as she tried to sit up, the pain was excruciating.

Leliana hurried toward her with a worried look on her face. "Sura, no, lie back down." She continued as she knelt beside Sura, taking Sura's hand into her own and squeezing it, "Morrigan, do you know any healing magic?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Morrigan was now also at her side. Her hands began to glow and a warm feeling entered Sura's stomach. Within a minute, Sura was completely healed, with no sign of ever being wounded but the hole in her clothes. She was still a bit sore of course.

Leliana helped her to her feet where she saw Maxwell was also well and on his feet. He appeared to be pale and weak where he had lost a lot of blood, but at least he was alive. Sura had just met her only bit of family she knew to be alive, she couldn't lose him already.

"The First Enchanters office should be ahead, we should check there for First Enchanter Irving and hope Uldred hasn't taken him." Wynne said as Sura and Leliana approached the rest of the group.

"Lead on then, Wynne." Sura replied.

Wynne led them down another hall to a door on the left. This was the First Enchanters office. She turned the door knob pushing open the door, stumbling backwards as she saw what was inside. A horrifying creature stood in the middle of the room. It was a demon, but none like Sura had seen before.

"I've been expecting you." It spoke, it's tone lazy and drawn out. "Now.. Sleep."

At that, Sura suddenly felt tired. Beside her, she heard her companions drop to the ground with a thud. Within seconds, Sura followed. She fell to the ground, swallowed by sleep.